The Healer 2
by XxJaggedXHeartzxX
Summary: Two years after the events of The Healer, everyone is safely tucked away in London, and the search for a cure can begin. But miracles don't happen overnight, and even if a cure is found this war isn't over. It's only just started and this time around the rules are a little different. AxelXRoxas LexXZex LuxXXal XigXDem RikuXSora MarXVex NineXKing NamX? and many others.
1. Chapter 1

Omg it has been soooooooo long. But that's life right? Well I'm back and moving on to the sequel to the Healer which will just be known as the Healer 2 because I already used up all of my creativity on the story. I've been very busy between conventions and work and writing my own novels that I completely forgot about anything else. Sorry! I hope you guys enjoy!

Also my friend and I (not the one I wrote this story with) will be attending Colossalcon this year like usual and we will be presenting our famous Yaoi panel! So if you live in the northern Ohio area or Ohio in general come on out and check us out! We're listed under Punny Panels as guests of the con!

Chapter 1

Xigbar shifted a bit in his bed and hugged the pillow beside him nuzzling it. He had had a very long night and the rest he was getting now was well deserved. Hunting the hunters had long since stopped bothering him and now he could finally relax. He opened an eye, feeling the warmth of the sun on his back and glared at the clock beside the bed. Already it was ten o'clock. He groaned and rolled over.

The door to the bedroom opened and closed softly and moments later the room darkened as the curtain was closed. The bed shifted as someone sat down on the edge. "There, is that better?"

Xigbar merely grunted in response, letting his body sink towards the person on the bed. "It's like the sun didn't get the memo..." He mumbled into the pillow.

"Well unfortunately I can't do anything about the sun." the voice giggled and ran his fingers through Xigbar's hair. "But I can sit here and help you fall back asleep."

"Why did you come in? You know I have to have at the _least_ seven hours of constant sleep to function right for however long I decide to stay awake, right?"

"Yes, I know. But I just wanted to be with you." he said and leaned over Xigbar to kiss the top of his head.

Xigbar opened his eye and took a slow breath before letting it out. "Or was it to bring me breakfast in bed?"

There was a chuckle and a pair of arms wove their away around Xigbar. "Maybe. Are you hungry?"

"For you? Always." Xigbar turned and looked up with a smile before pulling his mate down into a kiss.

Demyx smiled into the kiss and moved so he was lying next to Xigbar more comfortably.

The younger vampire continued to kiss the dirty blond and moved so that he was over top of him. He pulled away with a grin. "You know I can't keep away from you."

"I know." he said with a smile and touched Xigbars cheek. "And that's one of the things I love about you."

Xigbar chuckled and leaned forward. "You've completely thrown off my sleep schedule. Are you ready to pay for it?" Xigbar leaned in close to his neck, kissing it gently, his hand straying elsewhere.

"I always am." he whispered and wrapped his arms around Xigbar's neck, pulling him closer. "I love you Xiggy..."

The moment Xigbar bit down, his tongue was met with a fabric that tasted nothing like he expected. His fangs pierced the pillow and he dug his fingernails into it. A strange sound of lamentation came through the pillow.

Luxord walked into the room and sighed. "The pillow again? That's the third one this week." he said quietly to himself then put his hand on Xigbar's shoulder. "Another dream about Dem?"

Xigbar sat up quickly tossing the pillow aside in the small windowless room. "Why won't he leave me alone?" He asked quietly. "Luxord I can't stay in this room one more minute! I want to see him!"

Luxord put both his hands on Xigbar's shoulder and squeezed gently. "You can't. You know that you can't." The blond frowned. "Xigbar, they're still trying to find a cure, but it's been two years. Maybe it's time to think about... You know, moving on."

"Move on?" Xigbar glared at Luxord. "Move on to what? I gave up everything I was for him-for you, and your anti-hunting! And what do I get for it?" Xigbar wet his chapped lips. "I'm starving...and they've used the dampening poison on me! Two years I've been working my ass off with them and I have a fight with another vampire because I don't like how he handled the hunter he went after and I get the same treatment I got when I first came here?"

"Xigbar, calm down." Luxord said sternly and looked him in the eye. "Look, I know you're frustrated, and I know you miss Dem. I do too. And trust me I don't like the way they're dealing with you either. If I could I would take you home, but they don't think a Watcher is enough for you."

"I barely hurt the guy and for weeks they've had me in this stupid room, biting pillows because my mate haunts my dreams! I can't move on if he's in my head!" Xigbar shouted. "Just let me see him!"

Luxord sighed and sat down next to the other man. "Let me see what I can do, alright? But I can't guarantee anything."

Xigbar held his head in his hands. "I need to feed..." He muttered. "Hunting was the only way I could not think about Demyx and now that that's been taken away...he's all I can think of."

"I'll talk to the higher ups. It's been long enough, they should know where your loyalties lie." he clasped a hand onto Xigbar's shoulder. "I'll have them send you in some blood."

"I want good blood, not the poisoned kind..." He mumbled. "This is torture."

Luxord nodded. "I'll see if we can get you off that blood then." he stood up. "Just hold on a little longer, alright?"

Xigbar nodded. "Please...get them to let me visit him..." He begged.

Luxord looked back at the man and frowned. "I'll do what I can Xigbar." he said then turned to leave the room.

Xigbar followed after Luxord until the door shut quickly in front of his face. He leaned his head forward and gently hit the door.

Luxord closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry Xigbar." he whispered to himself and he headed down the hall to an elevator.

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Axel walked into his and Roxas' bedroom, two steaming cups in one hand and a bowl of popcorn in the other. "Did you decide on a movie yet Roxi?"

"Shhh...I'm thinking!" Roxas looked at the huge flat screen and fiddled with the controller.

Axel laughed and climbed onto the huge king sized bed. "You get so serious over the littlest things. It's adorable."

"We could watch every movie ever made...but what's the right one to watch?" He flipped through the titles and frowned.

"Do you want me to pick?" Axel asked, holding out his hand.

Roxas let out a huff and dropped the remote into Axel's hand. "Fine…"

"Well what are you in the mood for?" he asked as he started flipping through the movies.

Roxas shrugged. "I don't know! I want something chill...snuggly..."

"Disney movie?" he asked going to the kids section.

"I don't care, you pick..." Roxas leaned back in the bed.

Axel put an arm around Roxas' shoulder as he pressed play on Beauty and the Beast. "I can't remember, have you seen this one yet?"

"I've...heard of it, but I don't think I've had a chance to watch it yet." Roxas leaned into him.

Axel smiled and kissed the top of Roxas' head. "Well I hope you like it. I'm going to make you watch all the Disney movies."

"Isn't there singing in like...all of them?" He raised an eyebrow.

Axel thought for a minute the nodded. "Pretty much."

The blond vampire shook his head. "I refuse to sing along." He laughed.

"Oh come on. It's fun, remember Aladdin?" he said and grinned down at his mate.

"Aladdin is totally different!" Roxas crossed his arms. The movie reminded him of his days on the run.

"How is it any different?" he asked with a chuckle.

"It just is." The blond ate a bit of popcorn and watched as the movie started and Belle began singing. "Wow, not even like five minutes in."

Axel laughed and kissed the side of Roxas' head. "This one is Nam's favorite."

Roxas nodded and watched the movie. "I can see why she likes it."

"Namine's from France. Did you know that?" he asked quietly as he kept his eyes on the television screen.

Roxas shook his head. "Isn't that where Xaldin is from?" He whispered back quietly.

"Yep, but Namine is older than him so they weren't actually in France at the same time." Axel put some popcorn in his mouth and leaned back further into the pillows.

Roxas made a sound of recognition and continued to watch the movie.

Axel smiled and pulled Roxas to his chest. "I love you Roxi..." he whispered.

"I love you too." Roxas ate more popcorn before moving to give Axel a quick kiss.

Axel smiled and let out a content sigh. Life couldn't get any more perfect. He closed his eyes and within minutes, was asleep.

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Axel opened his eyes to find himself, not in his bed with Roxas, but in a beautiful place. The grass under his feet was a brilliant shade of green and the trees around him had the same colored leaves. The grass seemed to go on forever yet fade off at the same time and the sky was nothing but endless white. Everything seemed to shimmer and there was nothing but the sound of wind rustling through the grass and trees, and somewhere distant the sound of a harp. He knew this place, but he couldn't figure out from where.

"Axel, my son." a soothing female voice called out and Axel turned around quickly to see a woman standing at the top of a short set of stairs. Her blond hair, almost white billowed around her shoulders; and her light grey eyes peered down at him filled with love.

"You're..." Axel trailed off and stepped closer to the stairs, that he now saw led up to a large white building. It was almost as if the building blending in with the sky.

The woman nodded. "Yes. I am your mother. Your Goddess." she said softly, yet her voice reached his ears perfectly. "I've brought you here to my Sanctuary to talk to you about something very important, but first; how is Roxas?"

Axel stared up at her unable to even think of a proper response. "He's... he's good." he said simply and the Goddess laughed behind her hand. "I-I mean he's doing well. He's much happier now. Thank you... for bringing him to me."

The Goddess smiled and placed her hands back in front of her. "It's good to hear that you're happy, my son. But, this is quite a problem. Axel, Roxas was not supposed to survive that battle. And Reno has already been lifted."

"What do you mean Reno's been lifted?" Axel asked with wide eyes.

The Goddess stared at her son and a sorrowful smile graced her red lips. "My son I do not write the story of your world. I merely foresee events and plan accordingly."

Axel clenched his fists in rage. "So, what? You see everything dozens of years in advance and can't do anything to stop them? You knew Roxas was going to die but you still made him my mate?"

"It was what was best for the both of you. But the tides of time have been changed, something that happens very often."

Axel scoffed and shook his head. "What was best? One breakdown wasn't enough for me? You had to take both of my mates from me?"

The Goddess' eyes flashed with anger. "You should consider yourself lucky you even got to experience those emotions. Namine has not even met her mate yet."

Axel took a wary step back from her but looked to the ground mumbling.

"Now hold your tongue." She said and folded her hands in front of her. "I did not foresee Roxas surviving, because I did not foresee Xigbar asking to be changed, much less remaining alive much longer afterwards. People change their own fate every day. Time, as Luxord would explain to you, is very much like water. It is constantly changing and flowing. It never remains the same and can change its shape at will."

Axel pursed him lips. "So what am I supposed to do when I find Reno again? It's not possible for a vampire to have two mates? Is it?"

"No. It is not. But yet, it will come to pass. And there will be great heartache if something is not done."

"Like what?"

The Goddess stepped down from the stairs and placed a cold hand on Axel's cheek. "I can alter events; force certain things to come to pass. But you must make a decision Axel. Will you remain with Roxas, or start a new life with Reno?"

Axel subconsciously leaned into her hand, but her words brought a sinking sense of dread to his chest. "What happens to the one that I don't choose?"

The Goddess frowned and caressed Axel's cheek with her thumb. "One must die. But I can promise you my son, if you choose Reno your pain will ease in one months' time."

"So in other words if I pick Reno… Roxas dies, but I'll find Reno only a month later?"

The Goddess smiled. "Exactly."

Axel, none-to-gently, pushed the petite hand from his cheek with anger in his eyes. "Only a month? You think that's enough time to grieve Roxas's passing?" the red head looked disgusted and took a step back from the woman. "I loved Reno, but… Roxas is just so much more important to me."

The woman frowned. "Axel, my son, once Reno finds you all of his memories will be restored. It will be like he never died."

"I would rather have lived never knowing Reno than to have never had the chance to love Roxas." He said. "I regret that Reno has to die again, but I will never surrender Roxas to death. Never."

She clasped her hands together with a solemn look on her face. "So that is your decision then?"

Axel took a deep breath and nodded once.

A smile broke out on the woman's face and she stepped forwards to hug the vampire. "That is exactly what I had hoped to hear from you, my son. To know that you have moved on and that you are happy is my only wish." She let go of the now confused Axel and started back up the steps.

"Wait… so… I'm confused." He said and took a step forward.

She turned and smiled down at the man. "You shall remain by Roxas's side, but you will meet Reno soon. He will remember his past life once he sees you, but he will be different and have a mate of his own."

Axel's eyebrows knitted together in his confusion. "So you can change a person's mate? Just like that?"

"It is not an easy task, but it is one that can be done." She said with a nod. "I pray that you will be just as good of friends as you were lovers."

Axel stared at her flabbergasted at the events of the past five minutes.

"Please understand Axel, I never meant to bring you any pain. I did not foresee Reno's death either. He was and is a good man. Now you must go, Roxas has been trying to wake you and is very worried."

"Wait!" Axel shouted as he tried to run forward but he was swallowed by darkness and was soon shaken out of it by a very scared looking and tear soaked Roxas.

"Roxi?" he murmured

"Oh thank the Goddess!" Roxas let out a relived sigh and buried his face in Axel's chest. "I've been trying to wake you up for hours. I didn't know what to do, I called Marluxia and he said he was coming over, but he lives so far away now and-"

Axel silenced the blond by pressing their lips together and pulled him close. _'I'm sorry I worried you.'_ He said and ran his fingers through the messy yellow locks.

Roxas pulled back and opened his eyes slowly. "Don't scare me like that ever again." He paused and searched Axel's face. "What happened?"

"The Goddess wanted to have a chat with me."

"The Goddess? But I thought you only saw her during your transformation?"

"Well apparently she can appear to us in our dreams whenever she pleases."

"Well that's… slightly terrifying." Roxas muttered, remembering the lecture he got during his transformation for killing his sire.

Axel chuckled and cupped Roxas' cheek. "How so?

"The last time I saw her she was angry with me." Roxas frowned. "You can thank her for my constant cheery disposition."

Axel laughed and kissed him again softly. "That's what you get for killing your sire." he sat up and stretched. "What time is it?"

"Like eleven." Roxas rolled his eyes. "I'm really tired-you freaked me out...I'm glad you're fine though."

"Why don't I call Marluxia and tell him everything is fine and you can get some sleep?" he suggested and pushed Roxas back down onto the bed.

Roxas bit his lip then nodded. "Okay, but don't take forever, this bed is too big for me to stay asleep alone in."

"I'll be quick." he said and grabbed his phone from the side table as he left the room. He shut the door and dialed Marluxia's number.

Half a ring and Marluxia picked up the call. "Axel? Roxas called and said you weren't responding-everything okay over there?"

"Everything's fine." Axel said with a laugh, then sighed and frowned. "The Goddess stole me for a bit. And I'm concerned."

"Excuse me?" Marluxia narrowed his eyes and frowned. "What do you mean stole you?"

"She brought me to Sanctuary, that's what she said." Axel rubbed that back of his neck. "It was like when I was changed except it was clearer and I remember everything."

All of what Marluxia was hearing wasn't really setting in, having never seen her before. "I've never heard of such a thing happening before." He ran his fingers over his lips in thought.

"Neither have I, but that's not what worries me." he said and looked over his shoulder at the closed bedroom door and decided to walk down into the living room. "She told me that Reno's been... lifted."

Marluxia shook his head and gave an exasperated sigh at not understanding. "I'm sorry, I don't...I don't get what you mean by that."

"She practically said that Reno is alive." he said and shook his head. "I don't really understand either. She said that Roxas was supposed to die and that I could get back with Reno but... she's letting me stay with Roxas. It really happened so fast. She said that I was going to meet him soon."

"Impossible. The Goddess has never been so kind to raise a vampire back to life." He muttered in disbelief. "How did you get into contact with her?"

"I didn't do anything. I just fell asleep and... well I was just there." Axel ran his fingers through his hair. It was frustrating that Marluxia couldn't give him any information. "She told me that Reno would be different, have a new mate."

Marluxia glared ahead, maddened by not being able to help. "I don't like that she's suddenly deciding to be talkative after being silent all this time...and all she said to you was about Reno?"

"Yeah that was it. She was very motherly though." he said with a smile.

"I see." He found it strange that the Goddess would simply inform a vampire that a past mate who had died was now walking around without having any issue with it. "If this happens again, tell me."

"I will." he said and sighed softly. "I have to go Roxas is calling for me."

"Glad to hear it was a false alarm." He ended the phone call and let out a breath. This was all too confusing. There were too many questions going on in his head for him to sort them out directly but one was prominent. "Why?" He whispered to himself.

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A vampire ran through the forests at a blinding speed. He had about five hunters chasing him and he ran straight into the forest about seventeen minutes ago. "Whoo! Come on, slow pokes! I'm thinkin' about slowin' down!"

"Dammit! He's too damn fast!" The hunter out front glared ahead of him and turned to the hunter on his right. "You think you can get a clear shot off?"

The hunter shook her head. "Not at this speed and not in this many trees."

"Man you guys are weak, yo!" the vampire let out a laugh and slowed his pace. "I should be paid for training you sorry lot to chase vampires!" He turned around and started running backwards, only slowing a fraction. _'You ready, partner? I think I have at the least three or four.'_

 _'Three or four? That's it? You're slacking.'_ Another vampire stood in a clearing not too far from his partner. He was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed.

 _'Oh shut up! I said at the least-I'll get an army next time for us to play with.'_ The vampire grinned and whistled once he got to the clearing. "Seriously? Where are you guys? Did you all stop to take a breath or something?"

The tan vampire walked up to him and put an arm around his waist. "An army, huh? Sounds like fun."

"Of course it sounds fun, it's my idea." The vampire looked into the trees. "You really should be hiding, they still think I'm alone."

"I will, but first." he tilted the man's head up and kissed him deeply.

"Mm, no fair-you always do this before we go on a spree." The other vampire pushed him away reluctantly. "Go, seriously, before the hunters get a show."

The tan man chuckled and jumped up into a tree. _'Be careful.'_

 _'The bait is never careful, the fish'd get suspicious if I didn't act reckless.'_ The vampire waved his hands around. "Really? Have you given up or did I lose you?"

The hunters burst into the clearing and the leader stopped short his comrades almost running into him. The hunter smirked. "You stopped. That was a mistake."

"Was it really?" The vampire grinned and focused on the hunter that was cocky, sending him into a crippling bout of pain.

As the hunter fell to the ground, screaming in pain, the female hunter lifted her rifle and aimed it at the vampire. "Stop what you're doing, now!"

The vampire broke out into a smile and looked away from the poor hunter. As he lifted his hands in surrender he shrugged. "Please, don't be hasty. If you shoot me, you lose a perfectly good runner!"

"That's ok, we have plenty." she said and pulled the trigger.

At first the vampire hadn't even noticed what had happened. He looked down at himself and shook his head. "I hate guns..." He muttered falling to his knees and held his hand over the wound. His other hand was lifted to the female hunter and short waves of pain were sent her way, but they eventually fizzled out.

The tan vampire jumped from the trees and rushed over to his fallen mate. "What's wrong?" he said worriedly and looked up at the hunters.

"The bitch shot me because you took your damn time." He tilted his head back. "And she's packing dampener's..." He glared ahead.

"Shit." The bald vampire stood up to fight then heard additional footsteps headed their way. He bit his lip then turned, picked up his mate and took off running. The hunters quickly followed after him.

"What are you doing? Do your job! Put me down and take them out!" The vampire hissed. "You can handle this measly group on your own!"

"No." the man said and stared straight ahead. "You were shot and your powers aren't working. That only means one thing."

"Dammit Rude, you can't run as fast as me, they'll catch up and take you down if you lug me around anymore-I'll be fine!" He glared.

"No." he said again and hefted the red head further up into his arms. "Getting you to safety is my number one concern."

"I swear to the Goddess if you don't kill those hunters now the last two weeks will have been a complete waste!" The red-head growled. "We're in the middle of a forest! There are no buildings for you to hide me in!"

The tan vampire continued to run and turned after he hit a thick patch of trees. "I'll think of something." he muttered.

The red-head tilted his head back and jabbed a finger into Rude's chest. "If there aren't five dead hunters by the time I wake up tomorrow, I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Like you could." he said and leaned against a tree to see if he could hear anyone following. When he heard footsteps he cursed then took off running again only to stop when a house suddenly appeared in front of them. "What the..."

"I so could...kick your ass." He looked over and pointed to the house. "Oh goodie, a hideaway." He looked back to his mate with a hard stare. "Put me down in there and then kill the hunters..." He sounded a bit out of it, coughing.

Rude stared down at the man in his arms then turned sharply when he heard the hunters enter the clearing behind him, but instead of coming straight at him, they kept running. "What the…" he looked back to the house. "A cloaking spell?" he whispered then quickly carried him up to the front door.

"Rude...you ass, you're letting them get away..." The other vampire watched as the hunters ran by.

"Shhh..." he shushed and knocked on the front door. "Hello?" he called out then pushed open the door after a few moments. "Sorry for just walking in, but my partner... he's hurt." when no one answered him he walked in and carried the red head to the couch.

"Put me down and kill them. You know I'll be fine here..." The redhead glared at him. "I'll be fine, you know it takes more than a shot to put me down."

Rude frowned and ran his fingers through the man's hair. "You expect me to leave you here by yourself?"

"Stop trying to be romantic." The redhead coughed. "Because if you don't do as I say, you ain't getting none of this later."

He chuckled and kneeled down. "We'll see who cracks first." he said. "I don't want to leave you alone like this."

"No sex for a month." The redhead gritted his teeth. "For each hunter you let get away-no sex for a month." He swallowed.

"Can you handle no sex for that long?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know I can." The redhead responded in a no nonsense tone. "And I know you can't."

Rude sighed and kissed the vampire on the forehead. "Fine. I'll be right back. Don't move." he said the stood up and headed to the front door.

The other vampire turned slightly on the couch as he concealed the gun he pulled off of his partner, as a last form of protection from whatever was in this house. He slowed his breath and tilted his head back.

Axel sat up in bed with a gasp, a loud sound from outside startling him from his sleep. He looked down at the peacefully sleeping Roxas then slipped out of bed. He stepped out into the hall and turned on the light. He looked over the railing into the living room and immediately stopped breathing. "R-Roxas..." he called out quietly then sank to his knees still staring out at the motionless form on the couch below. "Roxas!" he called a little louder.

The blond vampire got out if bed after he heard Axel calling for him. "Nnh, Ax...what's wrong?" He asked from the doorway to their room.

"Tell me it's not real." he breathed his hands gripping the bars to the banister. "Tell me he's not down there..."

Roxas looked over the railing and he looked to the form lying in the couch. Another loud sound went off and he was jolted awake. "No..." He had never seen Reno but who else could Axel be referring to. He went down the steps and went to the couch, approaching slowly. "Get out of my house, you can't haunt here, go away!"

Axel took a shaky breath and tried to make his way down the stairs. "Roxas..."

The vampire cracked open an eye, still holding onto his abdomen before pointing the gun at Roxas. "Back off, kid, I don't want trouble." He glared at him.

Roxas instantly pulled away, suddenly wary that this wasn't even Reno. "If you're a hunter we got problems..." He said quietly.

Seeing the gun, Axel rushed forward, as if all of his strength had returned and stepped in front of Roxas. "Just relax. Reno?"

Reno aimed the gun at Axel's head this time, eyes wide. "How the fuck do you know my name?" He stared at him, his hand shaking.

Axel took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Oh Goddess it is you... She said I would meet you soon, but I didn't think this soon..."

"I said back off!" Reno tightened his grip on the gun, coughing a little more. "Stay away or my partner will rip you to shreds." He said as he lowered his voice.

"Reno." Axel moved forward slowly and turned on the light. "Relax it's me. She said you'd remember me."

As soon as Reno could see his face he dropped the gun and held his head. Letting out a howl of pain he bit his lip. "Axel?" He barely managed through his groans as memories flooded his mind.

Axel walked over to the man and crouched down. He was surprised at the lack of emotion he felt towards him. No love, no devotion, just concern. "Yeah, it's me."

As the last memory before his death set in Reno's breath caught in his throat. "Axel! Go to the cellar! Hide!" He clutched his wound.

Roxas watched on in disbelief. "What's happening?" He took a few steps back. "Axel?"

Axel put his hand over Reno's forehead, trying to calm him down. "Reno, relax." he looked over his shoulder at his mate. "Don't worry Roxi. I love you, remember?"

"I don't doubt that but what the fuck is happening!?" Roxas stared but upon looking at the wound Reno clutched he ran for the kitchen to get first aid.

Reno growled and shook his head left then right. "Rude! Rude!" He called out loudly.

"I'll explain it all later." Axel called out and turned back to Reno. He put his hands on Reno's shoulders and squeezed. "Reno, calm down! Who is Rude?"

"My partner!" He whispered and looked up at Axel, bright blue eyes shining. "What's happening to me?"

Axel looked down at his torso then back up to his face. "You were shot. You need medical attention." he said softly. "Where is your partner?"

"Killing the hunters I baited..." He groaned. "Stupid bitch broke the rules and shot me." He looked down at himself.

Roxas came back with a modified kit and started to take out supplies.

"We'll get you all fixed up." he said and ran his hand over Reno's hair. "Roxas will take good care of you. I'll go find your partner."

As Roxas peeled off the bloody part of Reno's shirt he grimaced. "Oh, Goddess, it's one of those bullets..." He started on extracting the bullet and he looked up. "I'm sorry but you're going to go to sleep for a while, I'm afraid..."

Reno looked down at him. "No, no...you're talking about the new strain, right? I'll...I'll be..." He lost consciousness before he could finish his sentence.

Axel took a deep breath and headed to the door. "I'm going to try to find this Rude." he said and headed out the door only to be met by the tan vampire.

Roxas set the barbed bullet aside and unrolled some gauze. He looked over his shoulder to see a vampire wearing sunglasses, staring down Axel.

The tan vampire stepped forward. "Who are you? Is this your house? Where's Reno?"

"He's here, this is our house, I'm Roxas, that's Axel. Patching him up best I can but I'm no healer. He got hit with the new strain I'm afraid." Roxas responded as he continued to fix up the bleeding vampire.

Axel bit his lip and stepped back into the house. "Come in." he said.

Rude rushed passed the red head and dropped to his knees next to the couch. "Reno?"

"He said he baited some hunters...what does he mean by that?" Roxas looked up at Rude.

Rude didn't look away from Reno. "It's what we do. We're anti-hunters. He rounds them up and leads them to me."

"That sounds incredibly stupid...rounds them up?" He frowned and looked to Rude again. "You do realize it's the middle of the night-you don't need to wear sunglasses all the time."

Rude gave him a sideways glance. "It's kind of... my thing. Now why isn't he waking up?"

"He's been shot. It had some really nasty stuff in it. You should know that." Axel said as he walked up behind them.

"It's the new strain..." Roxas frowned and pulled away. "If you're part of the anti-hunters then do you know if there's a cure for it yet?"

"No, no cure yet." he said and shook his head. "Reno's been grazed by one of these before. He was fine after a few hours though." he ran a hand over his head. "I'm sorry for intruding."

"It's alright." Axel said and crossed his arms.

"Only one other person has ...withstood the poison and he's an Ancient...Reno isn't an Ancient, just Pureblood, isn't he?" He looked up to Axel.

"Yeah. But maybe it's because he has Marluxia's blood." Axel said and Rude looked up at them.

"How do you know Reno? What's all this about him being a Pureblood?" Rude asked as he stared at them with narrowed eyes.

Roxas looked up at Axel and shook his head. "If that were the case, then Zexion wouldn't be where he is now." He looked back to Rude. "What is he to you?"

"Reno is my mate." Rude said defensively. "What is going on?"

"You sound surprised to be told he's a Pureblood, has he told you differently?" Roxas looked to Axel confused.

Rude stood up. "Reno had amnesia. He doesn't remember where he came from."

Axel sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "It's late. We can talk tomorrow." Axel said. "You and Reno can stay in the spare room. It's up the stairs and the second door on the landing."

Roxas sighed and pulled away from the couch. "Okay, Axel...tell me what's happening."

Rude looked between the two. "I'd like to know that too."

Axel sighed again and nodded. "I'll be willing to tell you guys anything, but not tonight. Tomorrow."

Roxas sighed and shook his head taking back the kit to the kitchen. "Suuuure...wake up to see your mate's dead mate on my couch, bleeding everywhere. Have to replace it but whatever, I hated the print on it anyway." He grumbled along the way.

"You can head up Rude." Axel said motioning upstairs.

Rude frowned but lifted Reno up into his arms and headed upstairs and Axel followed Roxas into the kitchen.

Roxas had put the kit away and was washing his hands at the sink. He stared at Axel with a fiery glare.

"Hey, what's with the glare of death?" Axel asked and walked up to the blond.

"I'm not waiting for an explanation tomorrow. I will ask you every five seconds and keep you from sleeping until you tell me what the hell is going on."

"Alright." he said with a sigh. "Where do you want to talk?"

"Right here." Roxas huffed. "Why do I need to leave our house to talk about it?"

"I was talking about either here or the bedroom." he said with frown. "Roxi, don't be mad at me."

"How is he alive?" He whispered. "Why would this happen?"

"The Goddess brought him back to life." he said softly. "It's one of the things that she wanted to talk to me about."

"But why? What's the purpose of him being brought back?" He chewed on his lip. "How long has he been alive?"

Axel bit his lip and took Roxas' hand. "She didn't tell me how longs he's been alive. But she did tell me that... that the reason she brought his back was..." he hesitated and squeezed Roxas' hand.

"What, Axel?" He furrowed his brow. "Why did the Goddess do this?"

"She said you weren't supposed to survive the fight." he said quietly and looked at the floor.

"Two years ago? I was supposed to die? When..." He frowned. "Xigbar."

Axel nodded. "Yeah." he said with a nod. "I owe him everything." he whispered.

"So she resurrected him so that you could be with him?" He furrowed his brow. "What does that mean for Reno's mate?"

"Yes that was her plan." he said and looked down into Roxas' eyes. "Hopefully everything will work out and no one will end up hurt."

"Wh-what if he falls back in love with you?" He whispered, then covered his mouth. "Goddess, he's gonna ask what happened to the house."

"He's not going to fall back in love with me." he said and cupped Roxas's cheek. "If he asks about the house, then I'll tell him."

"How can you know for sure! How can you know that the Goddess hasn't made him different. You heard what his partner said he's not fazed by the thing that is -killing- the other vampires."

"Roxas even if he does fall back in love with me, then that's too bad." he whispered and kissed Roxas' forehead. "I have you and I wouldn't change that for anything."

Roxas sighed and held on to his lover. "I was supposed to die...what a shitty life to live..." He muttered.

"But you didn't..." he wrapped his arms around his mate and kissed the top of his head. "I didn't even want to tell you... I knew this would happen."

"Now I feel like I owe Xigbar all that much more..." Roxas mumbled into his chest.

"I know, we own him a lot." he said softly and ran his fingers through the blond hair. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to take the love of my life back up to bed."

Roxas looked up at Axel and gave him a kiss. "I love you." He whispered and nuzzled his chest. "Y'know I was worried that he was a ghost...how awful would that have been?"

Axel chuckled and lifted Roxas's up into his arms. "We would've had to get an exorcism."

"That sounds even worse!" Roxas laughed quietly. "I'm going to want to ask his mate some things, but tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." he said elbowing off the lights and heading back up the stairs. "Right now, I need you in my arms."

Roxas smiled. "I need -you- in my arms." He wrapped his arms around Axel's neck.

Axel smiled and carried the boy into their room then laid him down on the bed. "I love you Roxi."

"I love you too." Roxas closed his eyes.

Axel lay down next to the boy and pulled his to his chest before pulling up the blankets. "Goodnight Roxas."

"Goodnight." Roxas whispered and curled his fingers around the blankets.

(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

"He's not a threat!" Luxord said for about the tenth time in their meeting. He looked down the table. "He just wants to see his mate! Separating them is just cruel."

Paine shifted in her seat, crossing her leg over another. "He assaulted one of our own." She said simply.

"He was on edge." Luxord countered. "Xigbar is one of us. I know he screwed up but doesn't everyone? He only wants two things, un-poisoned blood and to see his mate. Is that really too much to ask?"

"The poisoned blood is to keep him from escaping. I will not change the order." She narrowed her eyes. "As for seeing his mate...there will be monitored visits."

Luxord sighed and wanted to fight on, but figured that he should just quit while he had something. "Thank you." he said and stood up. "If you don't mind I would like to go tell him the good news."

"No." Paine responded. "No more visits for him." Her tone was cold. "If he wants visits to his mate then he loses the privilege of visits to himself."

Luxord tensed the nodded. "I understand." he said. He knew that Xigbar would rather see Demyx than him. He turned and left the room.

Paine leaned back in her seat and rubbed her fingers against each other. She would be the one to monitor the man. She did not trust him in the very least.

Xaldin stood outside the doors where Luxord had been and looked up. "How did it go?"

"Not good." he said and looked up at his mate. "But not terrible. I got him visitation, but not the blood and now no one can visit him."

"He's going to go insane without being able to talk with anyone...why would Paine do this?" Xaldin frowned.

"She doesn't trust him." he said with a simple shrug. "I don't know what I can do Xal... Demyx would be furious to know that his mate is being treated like a criminal."

"Perhaps this is the only form of justice she can dole out for the vampires he killed?" Xaldin asked quietly.

"Maybe." he said with a frown. "I just don't know how to convince everyone that he's on our side."

"It's been two years...we should have kept a closer eye on him." Xaldin shook his head.

"I blame myself. I should have stayed with him." Luxord let out a soft curse. "If I would have been there..."

"From what I heard, there was a vampire playing with his food. Xigbar didn't like it, punched the vampire, and spoiled the food." He sighed.

"To be honest I may have done the same thing, but because it's Xigbar..." He shook his head. "I want to go see Demyx."

Xaldin tilted his head to the side. "Want me to come with?"

Luxord smiled and held out his hand. "I would like that."

Xaldin took his hand and gave a light smile. "It's been a while...might do some good to see...how things are going."

Luxord smiled and led his to an elevator. "It breaks my heart every time I see him. I just hope we find a cure soon."

"I feel terrible about it...I haven't seen him in months...when was the last time you saw him?" Xaldin crossed his arms.

"A few days ago." Luxord pushed the button to call the elevator and sighed. "They won't let me see him every day."

"I can understand...allowing someone like you to see that the progress they've made is so slow..."He looked up, "They have made progress, right?

Luxord frowned and looked down at the floor. "Define progress?" he muttered and stepped into the elevator when the doors opened.

Vexen looked up from what he was studying and smiled. "Luxord, Xaldin! Have you come to visit?"

Xaldin smiled back with a nod. "How are things going?"

Luxord looked up and managed a smile. "Hello Vexen. How's your research?"

"Well...we're beginning to go out on a real limb here. We have tried everything we can possibly do-we've come up with cures for other sicknesses...for humans at least." He shrugged.

Luxord shook his head and sighed. "Well at least you're trying. And I respect that."

Vexen nodded sadly. "Have you seen Lexaeus...or Xemnas even?"

"Not recently. I think they may be out on a mission." Luxord crossed his arms. "You know, trying to take their minds off of what's going on back here."

The ash blond nodded again. "Tell them, that I'd like to discuss something with them...oh and after you're done here today I'd like to have some of your blood."

"Some of our blood? Whatever for?" Luxord tilted his head to the side. "What can our blood do?"  
"Like I said we're going out on a real limb. Just yours Luxord. Xaldin isn't directly related to Demyx in any fashion." He nodded.

"Alright, sure. Not a problem." he said and let his arms fall to his sides. "If it's to help Dem..."

"Relax it's just a pint." He smiled. "Go on and see your brother."

"Alright, thanks Vexen. I'll meet you in the lab once we're done." He said just as the elevator rang and the doors opened.

Vexen looked down to the clipboard in his hands and walked off towards the lab to continue his research.

Luxord stepped out of the elevator, still holding Xaldin's hand, and headed off in the opposite direction towards the hospital ward.

As Xaldin walked with Luxord, his hand tightened its grip. "Every time I come here there just seems to be more and more of them..." He looked at the beds lined throughout the hallway. Far down the hall Lulu walked from one room to another.

"They do keep filing in. It's not looking good." He said with a shake of his head. "Our numbers are decreasing, we need a cure."

"Goddess, this place was only meant for...not many at all." He bit his lip. "Vexen...sounded hopeful, though."

"He's brilliant." Luxord said with a smile. "He's gotten close, but nothing seems to wake them up."

"This place just feels like a tomb."

"That would make me the grave keeper then?" Lulu asked from down the hall, striding towards them. "I admit it does get pretty quiet, sometimes I forget to breathe since no one else down here is."

"It's depressing. If something doesn't change, we'll have to expand the ward." Luxord said quietly. "How is Demyx doing?"

Lulu smiled. "He's good. Good old patient zero hasn't changed a bit." She cleared her throat. "Wish I could say he was doing great but...no cure, no change in diagnosis..." She opened the door. "I'm afraid for lack of space I've started doubling up in the rooms...but I'm sure Demyx wouldn't mind his roommate."

A dirty blond looked up from the seat he was sitting on top of and quickly looked away. "Sorry, I'll be going." He mumbled getting off of the seat and grabbing his jacket.

Luxord's eyes widened. "Nine? When did you get here? And how did you find out about Dem?"

Nine looked up from the floor and swallowed. "Two days ago." He cleared his throat.

Luxord stepped closer to the other vampire. "Where's King?" he asked.

Nine shifted uncomfortably. "Down the hall." He whispered.

"Are you alright?" Luxord asked and touched his arm gently.

Nine moved out of Luxord's reach. "I should have taken the hit, it's my fault he's here." He moved to pass through the door. "I gotta go."

Luxord gasped softly and stared after Nine. "No, not King..." He walked to the doorway and poked his head out. "Nine!"

Nine shook his head. "I've gotta keep watch." He called over his shoulder.

"Everything will be ok." He said. "We'll find a cure, we'll wake him up."

Nine stopped. "Dem was the first and that was two years ago." His shoulders slumped. "There's no cure."

"No, not yet, but we'll find one." he said. "You just have to have faith. Demyx would be disappointed in you for giving up so easily."

"I don't care what Demyx would think of me." He started to walk away and disappeared into one of the rooms.

Lulu shook her head. "He was a wreck when he came in. He's not fit for fighting."

Luxord's shoulders slumped and he stepped back into the room. "I can only imagine. He must be taking it hard. How did it happen?"

She shook her head again. "Don't ask me, they were in Brazil when it happened. Someone thinks he jumped all across the ocean with King slung over his shoulder. I don't think he took a single break to feed."

Luxord sighed and took a seat next to Demyx's bed. "Poor kid. We should go visit him."

"You're lucky to have gotten him to talk. He's been roaming the halls when he can't stand to be near King with his guilt." Lulu responded. "Queen came by to visit yesterday and she tried to talk to him but he just stared at King, got up after about two hours and started roaming. He didn't go back to King's room until Queen left."

Xaldin shook his head. "Is he at least helping you?"

"Xaldin, he doesn't need to help. His mate is in a coma right now." Luxord took Demyx's hand. "He's due a little down time."

Xaldin shook his head, moving over to Zexion, looking him over. "How many are here?"  
Lulu tilted her head in thought. "King makes it...one eighty...seven."

"That many." Luxord groaned and put his face in his hands. "I hope that Vexen can make a break through."

"He's just about exhausted any kind of avenue...when you saw him did you get a chill or was it normal?" Lulu asked.

"Hmm..." he looked over to Xaldin. "Normal I think. I didn't notice a change in temperature." he said

Lulu smiled. "Good. He gets cold when he's hit a wall, that means he thinks he's got a strong lead...until he goes cold again." She looked around. "You know...I haven't seen Xigbar around, he's here every other day if he's not on a mission. Have you seen him?"

Luxord tensed and sighed. "Xigbar has been placed under intense isolation."

Lulu simply made a sound of acknowledgement. "Paine finally found a way to make him pay for his crimes, did she?"

"Xigbar didn't do anything wrong." Luxord muttered. "What he did before he was changed should not be held against him anymore."

Lulu sighed. "I'm sure he didn't do anything that would be fine if any other vampire did it. But past crimes don't just evaporate because you've become a vampire." She moved some hair out of Demyx's face.

"He's having dreams of Demyx. It's driving him crazy." Luxord whispered and took his brother's limp hand. "Hear that Dem? Your mate is thinking of you."

"Well...I've got others to look after. See you some other time, hm?" Lulu nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Luxord squeezed Demyx's hand and leaned down to kiss it. "We love you Dem. So wake up soon ok?"

Xaldin put his hands on Luxord's shoulders and squeezed them. "Vexen wants to see you. We should go." He whispered quietly.

Luxord sighed again and stood up. "I'll come see you again soon Dem." he said and kissed his forehead before turning to Xaldin. "Yeah, let's go."

"You're strong, I know this is painful for you." Xaldin kissed the side of his head. He led his mate out of the ward and into the research lab and Vexen smiled.

"There you are! Are you ready?" He asked directing Luxord to a seat. "This won't take too long...have you fed recently, Luxord?"

"Um..." Luxord blinked and took the seat. "Well human blood?"

"How long ago was that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Two... No three days ago." he said and clasped his hands in his lap. "Why?"

"Just don't want human blood to be floating around in your system before your blood consumes it." Vexen flashed a smile. "That's good, that means I can get a good, clean sample of your blood, but I suggest you feed afterwards." He began to set up.

"Alright." he said with a nod. "What do you need me to do?"

"Oh! Just relax, it's just like donating blood..." Vexen handed him a small ball. "Squeeze this and then sit-it doesn't take too long." He explained as he wrapped Luxord's arm then tapped the inside of his elbow. "Ready?"

Luxord swallowed and looked down at his arm. "Is now a bad time to say I don't care much for needles?"

Vexen stared at Luxord incredulously. "The bite of a vampire is worse than anything a needle could ever do to you."

"Yes well... Fangs aren't metal." he said and reached out trying to find Xaldin's hand.

Xaldin took his mate's hand and shook his head. "Lux, you're starting to sound like Xigbar before you took his tracker out. This is for Demyx, you can do it."

Luxord squeezed Xaldin's hand tightly and nodded. "Yeah for Dem."

"Okay then, in it goes." Vexen didn't bother counting, simply shoving the needle in and watched as the blood went through the tube and into the bag. "Alright...don't forget to squeeze the ball or it'll take longer." Vexen moved off to work on something different.

Xaldin leaned over. "Now I understand what Marluxia means by completely different personality."

Luxord grunted and hid his face in Xaldin's chest. "Yep." he mumbled and squeezed the ball fiercely.

Xaldin started to laugh. "I get it now. You don't like anything entering your body unless it's my fangs. You are such a baby."

"...Not a baby..." the blond muttered his hand still squeezing away at the ball. "Needles are creepy..."

"You've done medical work, stitched up wounds, those are needles. It's because it's taking your blood, isn't it?" Xaldin gently pet his head.

Luxord was silent and nodded once. "Don't you dare tell anyone..."

"Only Demyx." Xaldin grinned. "I get it, trust me I do."

Luxord looked up at his with a glare that looked almost like a pout. "You're the only one who should be allowed to take blood from my body."

"It's for Demyx, if it helps then you should be happy to bleed yourself for him...so long as you don't run yourself dry, right?" Xaldin lifted his eyebrows.

Luxord sighed and put his arm around Xaldin's waist to bring him closer. "Yeah."

After a few minutes Vexen came back and checked the bag. "Oh, very nice, the color looks good." He held a bit of gauze over the needle and pulled it out, then started to release Luxord from the band. "I'm going into a different field entirely with figuring out how blood works with vampires, you're the first to give me blood to research. Thank you."

Luxord rubbed his arm and looked up at Vexen. "Yeah glad to help." he said softly. "What's your plan?"

"Well like I said, this is a far reaching limb. I wanted to study the nature of the blood of a vampire...and eventually I would ask to take a sample of Demyx's..." His face turned sympathetic. "Just enough to fill a vial."

Luxord nodded. "If it's what you need to wake him up, then you have to." he said softly.

"Lulu has expressed fear of breaking the skin of a vampire who is in a coma. She's afraid that despite it being a simple needle, that the skin will not heal and the bandage will not mend." Vexen's shoulders slumped.

"But if there's a possibility for a cure... We have to." he said softly and stood up. "I'm willing to take any chance."

"The question is...Is Xigbar willing?" Vexen sucked on his lower lip. "If Demyx dies he will be the one to suffer the most."

"You'll have to ask him. And in order to ask him you'll have to ask Paine." he said.

"Why would I have to ask her?" Vexen furrowed his brow. "I figured I would catch him on the elevator eventually."

"Paine has him under lockdown. Intense isolation. No one sees him." Luxord frowned. "I just barely got him his visitation rights back."

"Oh." Vexen looked down at the ground, tapping his fingers against the blood bag possibly calculating something and then turned on his heel. "I'll tell you if I find anything out."

"Alright. Thanks again Vexen. You've been an amazing help." Luxord said and turned to Xaldin. "Let's go home. I want to rest, and feed."

"I'll feed you, don't you worry." Xaldin smiled.

Vexen had gone straight back into work mode, completely ignoring the other two vampires.

"Let's let him work." he said and pulled Xaldin out of the lab. "I hope whatever he's thinking works."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Reno woke up squeezing his eyes tight before opening them and let out a yawn. He looked around and saw his mate watching him. "Good morning, partner." He stretched.

"Thank the Goddess you're awake." Rude said and let out a sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I was getting worried."

"Oh come on, you know nothing can kill me right?" He grinned and sat up. "Did ya get the hunters?"

"Yes I got them. Every last one." he said and pulled Reno to his chest then kissed the top of his head. "You were out for a lot longer this time."

"What do you mean?" Reno looked up confused. "How long was I out?"

"Over twenty-four hours." he said softly. "Axel and Roxas said it's because of the new poison. They said you probably wouldn't wake up at all."

"I've been hit with it before...you shouldn't get worried, cause when you get worried, I get worried. Even when I'm sleepin' I get worried you transfer all your worry to me...when I'm sleepin'! So stop worrying." Reno poked him gently.

Rude smiled and cupped his cheek. "I can't help but worry." he said staring down into Reno's eyes and kissed him.

Reno kissed him back, slowly enjoying the kiss. He moved his hands up to drape over his shoulders.

Rude smiled into the kiss and leaned over the read head, pushing his back onto the bed. The smaller vampire lifted his legs to wrap around his lover's waist and licked at Rude's lips.

Rude pulled back and licked his lips. "We really shouldn't be doing this. We're guests in someone else's house."

Reno stared at Rude before letting go, dropping back onto the bed, and blowing bangs out of his face. "Oh, alright." He looked to the window. "What time is it anyway?"

"Almost eight am." he said and ran his fingers through Reno's hair. "Axel's been waiting to talk to me, but I refused to talk until you woke up."

Reno rubbed at his head and finally released Rude's hips. "Talk to you about what?"

Rude pursed his lips and leaned back on the head board. He looked over at Reno. "About you. And how he knows you. And how you're a Pureblood."

The smaller vampire sat up. "Oh. Right..." Reno looked like he had more to say but shook his head. "I guess we should get that out of the way then."

Rude put a hand on Reno's shoulder. "How do you know him? I thought you had amnesia." he said with narrowed eyes. "Or was that a lie?"

Reno shook his head quickly. "No! I wouldn't-You really think I would lie about something like that?" He bit his lip. "It's weird, okay? I know him...but I don't. I don't know how to explain it."

The tan vampire frowned and climbed out of the bed. "That doesn't make any sense, Reno. Who is he?"

"My memories are all jumbled up...Rude. I remember spending," He swallowed and knit his brow. "years and years with him..."

The tan vampire looked over his shoulder. "Years with him? Like _with him_ with him?"

"But it's not -my- memories!" Reno moved to touch Rude. "They're someone else's memories, not mine."

"The why do you have them Reno?" he asked quietly then shook his head. "I don't like this..."

Reno pulled him into a hug from behind. "Rude, baby, I wouldn't lie to you." His tone sounded pleading. "I don't understand what's going on..."

Rude sighed as his shoulders slumped. He put his hands over Reno's arms and pulled them off so he could turn to face him. "Let's go see if they're awake, so maybe we can sort this all out."

Reno nodded. "I love you." He held his hand with both of his own. "Please don't doubt that."

"I don't." Rude smiled and leaned down to kiss him. "I love you too Reno."

The smaller vampire left the room and looked over the railing. The area felt familiar but not at all the same. He knew this was Epping Forest, though when he ran in he had no clue what the woods meant to him. He took a deep breath. But it had all but lost its meaning. All the time spent with Axel was simply memories. Memories that didn't feel like his own.

Rude followed after him and put an arm around his waist. "You alright?" He whispered.

Down on the main floor Axel walked out of the kitchen and went to start up the stairs when he saw Reno and Rude. His eyebrows raised in surprise. "You woke up." he said simply.

Reno bowed his head and looked over to Axel. "'Course I did, why wouldn't I?" He narrowed his eyes. Axel wasn't sending any signals at him like he felt should be coming from him. He was just some other vampire.

"Have you been hiding under a rock? That poison puts us out of commission, like permanently. And we haven't found a cure yet." Axel stared walking up the steps. "How is it that you can just sleep for a day then wake up like nothing's happened? The only other one that did that was Marluxia." he paused. "Do you remember Marluxia?"

Reno frowned. "I know about the new strain." He said defensively. "Marluxia...he's my sire." He said after a moment. "And as for bein' a champ at resisting well... that's just my nature."

Axel let out a short laugh. "I want you to go to HQ with me today." He said as he reached the top of the stairs. "I'm sure Vexen's going to want a sample of your blood."

"Who?" Reno crossed his arms. "I'm not giving my blood to no one." He said harshly. "Certainly not to someone I don't even know."

Axel stared at him with a frown. "Your blood may contain the secret for the cure, and you're not going to help?"

Rude pulled Reno to his chest and held up a hand. "Look, he's just confused. Let's talk about how you two supposedly know each other first. Then we can go to HQ."

"If I react the same way Marluxia does to the poison and you guys haven't found a cure I don't see why I should help." Reno leaned into Rude.

Axel glared at his old mate then turned away. "She was right, you are different." he said and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him.

Reno shook his head. "I knew I was avoiding HQ for a reason." He went down the stairs and passed Roxas.

The blond vampire looked up at Rude. "What happened?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Axel and Reno kind of had a little catfight." he said with a shrug. "I think they both need a little time to calm down."

Roxas frowned. "Well if they won't talk how about we talk?" He leaned on the railing and glanced over his shoulder to see Reno staring at the couch he landed in staring at it pensively then looking to the middle of the floor. He took two steps to the side and stood there with his hand to his chin.

Rude looked down at his mate and nodded. "Sounds good to me." he said. "Do you want to sit down somewhere?"

Roxas shook his head. "I think standing between the both of them is okay." He leaned back. "So when did you meet him?"

"About a year ago." he said and looked down at the red head. "He was just wandering around London, he had no idea who he was or where he came from."

"Did he tell you how long he had been roaming?" Roxas asked quietly. Reno laid down on the floor and tried different poses until he settled his face looking to the side and a hand discreetly reaching for the direction of where the cellar was.

"He had no idea." Rude said and leaned on the railing. "What is he doing?"

Roxas looked to Reno and chewed on his lip. "That's where he died." He frowned. "I think he's trying to connect where his memories end."

"Where he died?" he stood up straight. "What do you mean where he died?"

"Axel...said that the Goddess resurrected him, because I was supposed to die." He let out a breath. "I don't know how or why specifically it happened, though."

"He was supposed to go back to Axel..." Rude looked at Roxas. "I'm glad you didn't die then."

"The hunter that helped kill Reno...I guess he threw a kink into her plans. He became a vampire to live longer, found a mate, then saved me from a hunter." He shrugged. "It's all really kind of ironic."

"Reno's killer..." he sighed and leaned on the railing again, string down at his mate. "This is a lot to take in, but I'm sure it will all settle in a few days and everything can go back to normal."

"I hope so." Roxas looked up to Rude. "But really, Xigbar...I owe him my life and...in a way allowing me to be with Axel." He smiled. "He's changed a lot because of his mate...but his mate was the first to be hit with the poison that Reno shrugs off."

"Hmm..." he tilted his head to the side as he watched his mate. "I'll talk to him. Get him to go to HQ. We both owe this Xigbar person a great deal of gratitude."

"Do you think he will do it for his killer?" He raised an eyebrow. "How good are you at convincing him?"

"I'll convince him, don't worry." he said. "Reno's just stubborn."

"Okay...I'll go and check on Axel." Roxas went to their room and closed the door behind him.

Reno closed his eyes and held onto his abdomen where he was shot. His eyes leaked tears but he wasn't sad.

Rude walked down to the living room and stood over the red head. "Hey. Why're you crying?"

"I get it now." He whispered. "I get it, and I don't want to get it."

Rude crouched down next to him and wiped the tears away. "But it's your past. You finally found out where you came from."

"It may be my past but it's not who I am anymore...it's the past of someone dead." He looked up at Rude. "I'm not dead, I don't belong to Axel anymore, just you."

Rude smiled and pulled Reno off the floor. "I know. I wasn't planning on letting you go."

Reno nodded. "I wouldn't want to let you go." He smiled. "I'm here for you and only you."

Rude pulled Reno to his chest and kissed the top of his head. "I know babe."

"Alright, so what are we going to do now?" He tilted his head to the side. "Where should we go?"

"I want to go to HQ." he said simply. "You might be able to help them."

Reno frowned. "Why should I help the people I've been trying to avoid this whole time?"

"Because they're the whole reason you can be with me in the first place." he said quietly, yet sternly.

Reno sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm different...I don't want to be tested like some kind of lab rat."

"I won't let them test on you. I'm sure they just want to examine you, maybe take a blood sample." Rude looked down into Reno's eyes. "I won't leave your side, so everything will be ok."

"Yeah but how can you say that for sure?" Reno frowned. "What if I am the cure, what if they need all my blood to cure everyone?"

"They're not going to take all of your blood. They won't kill you Reno." He kissed Reno's forehead. "Didn't I promise you, back when we first met, that I would never let anything bad happen to you?"

Reno nodded. "I died once...I don't want to do that again." He looked up and pointed sternly at him. "You can't let them have their way with me."

"No of course not." he said with a smirk. "I'm the only one allowed to do that."

"Damn right." Reno cracked a smile. "I should say goodbye to Axel."

"Alright." he said and stood up and helped Reno to his feet. "I'll wait for you down here."

Reno walked back up the steps and knocked gently on the door he saw Axel go into.

"What is it?" a frustrated sounding Axel called out.

"Can I come in?" Reno asked. Roxas went to the door and lifted an eyebrow, asking if it was okay.

Axel sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine."

Roxas opened the door and stepped back. "Is it alright if I talk to him alone?" Reno asked.

Roxas looked back at Axel. "Is that alright?"

Axel looked at them then looked away with a huff. "Sure, whatever."

Roxas left the room and shut the door quietly behind him. Reno walked over to Axel slowly and tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder. "You sure have gotten poutier."

Axel looked at the hand on his shoulder then up at Reno. "And you've gotten bitchier. But... I know my Reno is long gone."

"Ouch." Reno let his hand drop. "I'm going to HQ." He swallowed. "I'm sorry. I did die, and I did come back. But you're right, I'm not the same. I'm fine with that."

Axel sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm glad that you're back, but I'm also glad that you're not my mate. I love Roxas. And I can tell that you love Rude." he patted the space on the bed next to him.

Reno sat down. "Oh yeah, Rude is...he's great." He tilted back. "I like what you did with the house."

"Really? Cause we burnt it down and rebuilt it." he said with a laugh.

"Did you now?" He nodded. "I figured. I'm glad you didn't cling too much to...the past."

"Well I did for a bit." he said with a sad smile. "I uh... got your letter."

"Oh, Goddess. That thing..." He covered his face. "I'm sorry to cause you all the grief. But you have a mate now and Marluxia...he used good judgment."

"He did, and it really meant a lot. I mean it made Roxi pretty jealous but I'm glad you did it." Axel laughed.

"I'm just glad that the house never got looted...Do you still have a room for Nam? Or has she found a mate?"

"We do have a room for her, but no she doesn't have a mate yet." Axel leaned back on the bed. "Do you uh, what your stuff back by the way?"

"No." Reno answered. "They're your things. And besides...I'm not the same person you fell in love with." He stood up. "Still your sire though, so there's that."

"Does that mean I have to go back to listening to you?" Axel asked with a grin.

"No not at all. I didn't listen to Marluxia half the time, why should you listen to me?" He smiled. "I'll see you around. Goddess knows we're bound to meet again." He looked around the house. "Obviously."

"Yeah I'll meet you at HQ later. When are you going?" he asked.

"By the sound of it...right now." Reno cleared his throat. "Rude tells me I won't be a lab rat so...might as well go and tell them I'm immune...and that I've been resurrected by the Goddess. Lucky me." He hunched his shoulders.

"Hey, she gave you Rude didn't she?" Axel stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I do have Rude, but I don't welcome the idea of having everyone ask me twenty questions about what happened when you know more than I do at this point." Reno frowned.

"I think that Marluxia is going to be glad to see you." Axel said. "Roxas and I will get dressed and we'll meet you there."

"I'm not sure if I want to meet him." Reno shrugged. "Anyway. See you soon, then." He turned to leave and took the steps quickly. "Rude, babe, let's go."

Rude turned away from Roxas and followed Reno down the steps. He looked over his shoulder to say goodbye to Roxas. "How was your talk with Axel?"

"Insults at first but we're good now." Reno smiled, looking over his shoulder. _'I taught him his charming disposition after all.'_

Rude raised an eyebrow and slipped his arm around Reno's waist once they were outside. _'Oh? He learned everything from you? I think I can see the resemblance.'_

 _'Like I said-I'd spent many years with him.'_ Reno leaned into Rude. _'By the way, the girl that shot me...tell me how you killed her-I hope you used something spectacular.'_

"Let's just say she's not getting an open casket funeral." he said and leaned down to kiss his mate. "In fact I don't think she'll be needing a casket at all."

Reno grinned and laughed loudly. "That'a boy." He gently pinched Rude's butt. "I knew I could count on you to finish the job."

Rude smirked and put a hand over Reno's ass. "Only you would find brutal murder sexy."

"Oooh, any murder for the sake of a loved one is always sexy. Especially when the prospect of sex is being threatened." Reno chuckled.

"Now see that was just plain mean." he said and looked over his sunglasses at Reno. "You deserve a punishment for making me worry."

"If you punished me for every time I made you worry..." Reno moved his arm up to Rude's shoulder. "What would the punishment be?"

Rude smirked and pinned Reno to a nearby tree. "Something you enjoy way too much. I suppose I should think of another way to punish you..."

Reno let out a small gasp and chuckled. "Please, get creative with it." He grinned.

Rude leaned over his mate, pressing a knee to his crotch and his lips to Reno's neck. _'I think anything I come up with you'll like too much.'_

Reno tilted his head and rolled his eyes, hands reaching up to place on his shoulders. "You make me sound like some kinda pervert."

 _'You're not?'_ Rude chuckled and licked at Reno's neck. He ran his hands down Reno's sides and slipped them under his shirt.

Reno began to laugh as Rude hit a spot that was ticklish, just under his ribcage. "Well then that'd make you one too since you are the one doing it to me."

Rude pressed closer to Reno and kissed up to his ear. "I suppose I don't mind being a pervert, as long as I'm the only one that ever touches you." he whispered and moved his hands slowly higher.

"I don't think you have it in you to actually punish me." Reno closed his eyes.

"I don't think I do either, but I can tease you." he said running a finger over a nipple. "That's always fun."

Reno pushed his head into the tree. "You know what I think is fun?" A hand moved to the side of Rude's head.

"Oh? What's that?" he asked, running his fingers over the nipple again and gently nipping at his neck.

Reno bit his lip as he smiled, sliding a finger between his sunglasses and hooked them. "Taking these away." He pulled them off.

Rude pulled back and made a grab for the glasses. "You know I hate being outside without those on." he muttered.

Reno held them up and away, grasping them gently. "Oh come on, you can hide those big beautiful brown eyes from the world, but not me." His grin widened.

Rude gave him an incredulous look but let him keep the glasses. "Just don't break them. They were the last spare pair I had on me."

"There's that look." Reno tucked the glasses into Rude's jacket. "You're just afraid that people won't look at you as a tough guy with your adorable eyes. They speak volumes against your tough guy demeanor." He teased.

"Yeah? And what if other boy's see my adorable eyes and try to steal me away from you?" he countered. "You're the only one allowed to see me without them."

"If I saw someone trying to even think about coming after you like that I'd leave them crippled on the floor in pain." Reno grinned. "Wouldn't even have to lift a finger too."

"You have the laziest fucking power." he said with a grin and moved his face closer to Reno's.

"Oh but it's a power that needs to be moderated. You know how hard it is to keep myself from hurting everything I didn't like?" Reno raised an eyebrow. "It's a real internal struggle."

"Oh most definitely. You have such a tough inner demon." he chuckled. "I remember you using it on me when we first met."

"Is that what I did?" Reno thought for a moment. "Oh right, because I'm such a hot piece of ass I can't protect myself from some shady lookin' guy. I just gotta lie down and take it?"

"I wasn't going to do anything like that." he said and went back to kissing Reno's neck. "I was trying to help you."

"You grabbed me. What on Earth was I supposed to do?" Reno raised a leg up onto Rude's hip.

"Listen to the unbelievable sexy man trying to help you?" Rude moved closer to the red head, pressing their hips together.

"Oh." Reno pushed his body back into the tree. "Remind me what you were trying to say to me through those delicious grunts?"

"To calm down." he whispered and kissed the pale neck. "To let me help you." another kiss and he lowered a hand to Reno's crotch. "That I was your mate." with the word mate Rude sank his fangs into Reno's neck and put pressure on the bulge in his pants.

Reno moaned and wrapped his legs around his mate. "Didn't know how-mm-how much help I actually needed, 'till I met you."

With an expert hand Rude opened Reno's pants and shoved a hand inside. _'I didn't know how empty my life was until I found you.'_

Reno lifted his hips to Rude's touch. "I was so confused. But you helped fill all the holes that mattered." He chuckled.

Rude pulled away from Reno's neck with a chuckle of his own. "That's an interesting choice of words..." he pushed down the constricting pants and took Reno's member in his hand.

The smaller vampire gasped and groaned. "Ah, I mean it. Take it whichever way and it still applies." He bit his lip.

Rude smirked up at the red head and moved his head forward to kiss down his neck, stopping at the still healing bite. "Does my Reno want more?" he breathed against the wound.

"Yes." He hissed and gripped Rude's shoulders. "Always."

Rude chuckled and slowly started to stroke the red head's length. "I may just tease you for a bit."

Reno wriggled in Rude's grip and looked down. "You're beginning to make me hungry."

"No blood until I say so." he replied with a smirk and ran his thumb over the head of Reno's growing erection.

The red-head growled and grinded his hips against Rude's. "Ah, you-" Reno groaned.

Rude looked into Reno's eyes and leaned forward to give him a quick kiss. "I just adore teasing you..."

Reno tried to kiss back but Rude had made it impossible to reach him. "I'm not against using my power..." He warned.

"Use it and I'll leave you just as you are." he said with a straight face and his hand stopped moving.

Reno took a slow breath and ran his tongue along his fangs. "Fine." He looked away.

"There, there." Rude bit the tip of his finger and pressed the now bleeding digit to Reno's lips. "You can have that for now. It will taste even better if you wait."

Reno licked the finger leaning forward until he had the tip in his mouth. He massaged it with his tongue as he sucked and gently kept the finger in place with his teeth. _'I dislike waiting.'_

"I know. I should have given up a long time ago on teaching you patience." he chuckled and started moving his hand again.

Reno rocked his hips with Rude's hand and grinned around his finger. _'I don't_ _think I ever was one for patience.'_

"Probably not." he said and took his hand away from Reno's length to push a finger into him slowly. "But I'm still going to take my time with you."

Reno moved a hand back to grip the tree trunk and tilted his head back, losing the grip on Rude's finger. "Mmn! Rude..."

The tan vampire smirked and used his now free hand to support his mate. "Oh does that feel good?" he asked, pushing the finger in further.

Reno nodded, panting. "More." He whispered gripping the bark and attempted to get into a more comfortable position.

Rude painstakingly slowly added another finger and leaned forward to lick at Reno's neck. "Like that?"

Reno growled but nodded. "Fuck." He murmured and tightened his legs. "This is punishment..."

"Am I going too slow for you?" he asked sarcastically and slowly curled and uncurled his fingers.

Reno shuddered and kept himself from giving an answer, afraid he would only go slower.

Rude pushed his fingers deeper and kissed up his neck to his ear. "You want more than my fingers, don't you?"

Reno simply nodded and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "Please..." He whispered back.

"You're back's going to get all scratched up from the tree." he murmured and started moving his fingers in and out.

"It's a good thing I control pain then, isn't it?" He retorted, holding tightly to his lover.

"You need to take your pants off first, babe." he said with a smirk, clearly hinting at something. "And so do I."

Reno slowly let go of Rude and quickly shrugged out of his pants. "Any preference to where I am?"

"Where ever you want to be." he said as his removed his own pants. "Whatever makes you more comfortable." he pulled Reno in for a deep kiss.

"Oh so now you're concerned with my comfort?" Reno asked and shook his head. "We're in the middle of the forest, surprise me."

Rude smirked and gently pushed the redhead chest first against the tree. He leaned over Reno's back to whisper into his ear. "I think it's impossible to surprise you."

"Not so!" Reno could feel his lover's length pressing against his backside as he gripped the tree. "But I think it's harder to catch you off guard."

"That's because I'm prepared for anything." he said and put his hands on Reno's hips. "Bend over more."

Reno shifted and leaned into the tree more. "Always so prepared..." He grinned looking over his shoulder, licking his upper lip.

"Always." he smirked and pushed into his mate, gripping his hips tightly.

"Uhn..." Reno gripped the trunk tightly and bowed his head forward. "Fuck me hard, Rude."

Rude leaned over the pale man and dug his nails into Reno's hips. "You would like that too much." he breathed into Reno's ear as he slowly pushed all the way in.

Reno groaned and bit his lip. "Was I really...that much of a bad boy?" He whispered.

"You're always a bad boy." he whispered and started to pull out. "But maybe I'll show you a little mercy..."

" _You_ show _me_ mercy?" Reno couldn't help but grin when Rude called him out on what he really was.

Rude smirked and pulled out completely. "I can just stop."

Reno angled his hips as best he could under Rude's grip. "That's just too cruel...one poke and then you're finished?"

He chuckled and ran his hands up Reno's back. "You really want it that badly?"

"You can't just start something without finishing it...that's just messy." He arched his back and closed his eyes.

"Is it?" he asked and he pressed the head of his erection to Reno's entrance. "Or do you just want my cock in your ass?"

"Yes." Reno breathed and he moved a hand to his own length. "I want your cock so bad."

He smacked Reno's hand away from himself. "Hands on the tree." he said and slammed back into his mate.

"Ahh!" Reno gripped the tree tightly and threw his head back. "Fuck yes..." He spoke quietly.

He ran his nails down Reno's back, leaving angry red trails and started thrusting his hips. "Better?"

"Mmmn..." Reno could barely manage a word. He bit into his lip, drawing blood and his cheeks went flush.

Reno smirked down at his mate and gripped his hips again to pull them back against his own with each thrust. "Fuck... Reno."

Reno didn't hold back any moans, digging his fingernails into the trunk. He did his best to keep in time with his mate's thrusts but he let out a pitiful whine knowing he couldn't pleasure himself.

"What do you want baby?" he asked breathlessly as he aimed for a deeper spot inside of Reno.

"Hah! R-Rude...please!" He gasped out and held tightly to the tree.

"Tell me what you want baby." he said as he dragged a nail down Reno's back, drawing blood. He leaned over and slowly licked the red droplets from the wound.

Reno moaned and the tree groaned with the amount of stress it was receiving. "Let me cum!" He begged.

Rude chuckled and nuzzled Reno's back before righting himself. "No, you don't get to cum yet." he thrust harder into Reno and reached up to tangle his fingers into the red hair.

Reno felt his head being tugged back and he moaned loudly. "Please." He asked between breaths.

"You want to cum that badly?" he asked as he reached down and gingerly took Reno's length into his hand. He ran a finger over the head, spreading the pre-cum that was gathering there.

The red head bucked into Rude's hand as he let out a hiss. "Fuck me as hard as you want but don't ignore me." He mumbled into the tree.

"It's impossible to ignore you, baby." he said and wrapped his fingers around Reno's erection and started to pump his hand to match his thrusts.

Reno groaned quietly and even relaxed a bit in his posture. "Goddess, Rude...I love you."

"I love you too Reno." Rude said tugging on the red tresses again. "That's the one thing… I hate about this position…" he grunted out and tightened his hand on Reno's member.

The redhead moaned. "Oh, but this...lets you go farther." He tentatively moved a hand to gently grip Rude's wrist. "We can make out...later."

Rude chuckled and sped up his thrusts. "You like it this way, don't you?"

"The unconventional ah, excites me." Reno gasped and dug the hand holding onto the tree further.

"So that's why you like getting fucked where we can get caught..." he smirked and squeezed the head of Reno's length. "Maybe we should have done it at Axel's. It would have been fun to see you try to be quiet."

"I'd be a bloody mess." He held back a moan, scratching at Rude's arm. "So would you. Goddess, could you imagine a hunter stumbling upon us?"

"I would have to protect you, like usual." he grunted and tugged on Reno's hair again.

"Nn! Do you think they'd try to attack us? Or do you think they would watch?" He looked over his shoulder, eyes filled with lust, yet still glinting with mischief.

"You would love it if they watched." he murmured with a smirk and took his hand from Reno's hair to place it on his hip.

"Fuck yes I would." He moaned and kept his eyes on his mate. "Then we could suck them dry..."

"It would be a nice after sex snack." Reno whispered and leaned over to kiss between Reno's shoulder blades. "Cum for me baby..."

Reno bowed his head forward, urging Rude's hand to move faster before holding tightly to the tree and moaning quietly as he came.

Rude let out a low moan as he released inside of the red head, then pulled his hand back to lick away the remnants of Reno's bliss.

The smaller vampire panted and pulled himself away from Rude. "What was I being punished for again?"

Rude smiled and wiped some sweat-soaked hair from Reno's face. "For making me worry about you."

Reno turned around, chest heaving. "Maybe I should get shot more often." He leaned forward, kissing him passionately.

Rude kissed his mate back and pinned him to the tree. "I don't agree with that logic." he whispered after pulling back.

"Nn." He laughed, tracing a finger along Rude's neck. "I don't like getting shot, but if it means you screw me like that I wouldn't mind."

"If you want it rough baby, all you have to do is ask." he said and tilted his head to the side. "You know I have handcuffs..."

Reno kissed Rude's neck and shook his head. "It's better when I feel guilty about something." He grinned, "May I?"

Rude chuckled and lifted a hand to pull Reno's head closer. "Of course. But you know, there are better ways to feel guilty than getting hurt."

Reno sank his fangs into Rude and moaned in delight. _'Like what?'_

"Like, refuse to clean the house. Hell I'll take you flirting with other boys over you getting hurt." he said softly and pulled Reno closer.

 _'I have permission to flirt with other_ _boys?'_ The voice sounded incredulous as he greedily drank his lover's blood.

"Only when you're with me." he said and wove his fingers into the red hair possessively.

Reno pulled away slightly and continued to kiss his neck. "Of course, if I did it behind your back you wouldn't know if I should be punished."

"Exactly." he said and cupped Reno's cheek to pull him into a kiss. "We should get dressed and get going."

Reno kissed him back and let out a sigh of resignation. "I guess we should." He pulled away and started to get dressed slowly.

Rude smiled and pulled his pants back on. "Do you feel ok enough to go to HQ?" he asked and put an arm around Reno's waist.

"I can walk straight if that's what you mean." Reno grinned. "The joys of being able to command nerve endings to do what I please."

"You're such a smartass." he said as he smacked Reno's ass. "You know what? That's a good way for you to get "punished" too. Being a smartass. But then again, I can't really punish you for being yourself."

"Oh, the perils of being me." He put a hand to his chest. "Y'know...in all seriousness-now that I remember...I can do more with my power than cause pain."

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow and looked down at Reno. "What else can you do?"

"Well I can dull pain, I can create pain, but I can heighten sensitivity." Reno took the sunglasses and placed them back on Rude's face.

Rude pushed the glasses up higher onto the bridge of his nose. "You just control all kinds of feelings don't you? Heightened sensitivity... sounds fun."

"I do." He sucked on his lower lip. "Kind of like a drug. If drugs could work on vampires." Reno leaned on his mate.

"That would probably come in handy in the hospital ward." he said and tightened his arm around his mate.

Reno made a face. "One step at a time, Rude. I don't even know how people are going to react to me."

"You're right. This explains why you never wanted to really be around HQ, or other vampires for that matter." he said softly. "It must have been the Goddess' way of keeping you hidden."

"I'm surprised no one ever asked you how you got so damn good at killing hunters suddenly."

"They did." he said with a grin. "But I just told them I had a new secret weapon."

"Hah! The Really Evil Noble Obliterator?" He joked. "Ohh...I dread going there. I don't want to be peppered with questions..."

"That's going to be beyond anyone's control, but I'll be there with you I promise. I won't leave your side." he said and took Reno's hand in his own.

"I can always just tell them that I don't know. I wouldn't be completely lying if I didn't answer their questions." Reno sighed and closed his eyes.

"Wouldn't it just be better to tell them the truth? That way they won't pull you in again." he suggested and helped Reno over a fallen tree.

"I'll try to, but I can't make any promises." Reno frowned. "Did you park the car in the woods or do we have to walk all the way back to the main roads?"

"No, I parked pretty close." Rude looked down at his lover. "Why? In a hurry to get to HQ?"

Reno looked up at Rude. "Just because I can mute the pain doesn't mean that I don't want to sit down for a few minutes." He looked down at his hands. "And pick the wood out from my fingernails."

Rude chuckled and pulled out his keys. "You sure did a number on that tree, didn't you?"

"Just be glad it wasn't you." Reno smiled. "Axel said he'd meet us at HQ...I wouldn't be surprised if he beat us there at this point."

Rude chuckled and pushed a button on the key fob, a few yards away a black Rolls Royce Phantom roared to life. "Your chariot awaits, princess."

"Excuse me for wanting a little rest before I get poked and prodded by doctors." Reno made his way over to the car and flopped into the car seat. With a measured breath he let his nerves resume their natural course and closed his eyes.

Rude climbed into the driver seat and looked over at Reno before starting the car. "We can always go tomorrow."

"Rip it off like a band-aid. The sooner it's done the faster I can figure out my life." He sighed.

"The only thing you need to figure out about your life is the next batch of hunters to kill." he said softly as he drove out of the woods. "The only thing that's different is now you know your past."

"But if they want me for more than just questioning, they're going to want to test me-I can't just think of killing more hunters..." He shook his head.

"Reno, look at me." he said as he stopped the car. "I won't let them do anything you don't want them to, alright? It's ok to be scared, but I'm going to be right there."

"Being scared just isn't me." He looked over to Rude. "I never was scared until I ended up at Axel's."

"I know, and that's why I'm worried about you." he frowned and took Reno's hands. "But if what they said is true... then maybe you can help all of those people wake up."

"Mmm..responsibility, just what I needed." Reno looked to the side. "Old me wouldn't have a problem doing this..."

"Well, like you said, that's the old you. You're someone completely different now." he moved Reno's head back towards him. "Reno, I will love you no matter what, and I will stand by you with whatever decision you make."

He nodded. "I don't want to disappoint you. Let's just go."

Rude sighed and took his foot off the brake to continue driving. Reaching down he took Reno's hand in his own. "Everything will work out fine in the end."

(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

As she made her way down the dim hallway, Paine pulled out a set of black handcuffs and dismissed the guard standing at Xigbar's door. After he had left she unlocked the door and slammed it open.

Xigbar looked up and immediately went to the back of the cell. "Hello." He spoke nervously, his eye looked her over to assess who the woman was.

Paine crossed her arms, the cuffs clacking together. "Do you enjoy killing vampires?"

"I uh..." Xigbar swallowed and shook his head. "I...I'm not that person." He spoke quietly.

Paine took a few steps towards him. "How many vampires have you killed?"

"I...I don't know." He shook his head again. "Who are you?"

The woman walked up to Xigbar and kneed him the stomach, bringing him to his knees. "I'm the person who holds your fate." she spat out. "Two hundred and forty seven. It's too bad you couldn't get to two fifty." she said and kicked him to the ground.

Xigbar didn't move from where he fell. "Yeah, plans sorta changed with the last three." He couldn't help but lash out verbally.

Paine glared down at the man and kicked his side, sending him sprawling across the floor and into the wall. "Do you have any idea how many lives you ruined? You and the rest of those bastard hunters don't deserve the air you breathe."

"I have a good guess." Xigbar coughed and started to get back up. "I paid for that though."

"You will never be done paying for what you've done." she hissed and pressed a foot to his back forcing him back down onto the ground. "If I had it my way, you'd be dead."

"Then why don't you kill me?" He turned his face, looking up through his hair into Paine's eyes. "Kill me."

She dropped down to one knee and fisted his hair in her hand roughly. "Because I realized something; if I killed you, then you're suffering would be over. But if I keep you alive..." she chuckled. "You get the joy of knowing that you are the whole reason why Demyx is the way he is."

"What happened to Demyx wasn't my fault...I killed her." Xigbar growled. "I didn't put him where he is now!"

"You were too weak, you couldn't protect him." she slammed his head down onto the concrete floor. "And now he's practically dead."

"I know that!" Xigbar put his hands on the floor. "He's not dead-he can't be dead!"

Paine released Xigbar and stood up. "Why don't you see for yourself?" she said. "You're lucky I respect Luxord so much."

Xigbar's eyes widened. Luxord had pulled through. "Thank you." He spoke quietly, despite the pain in his head. He knew he wasn't healing from Paine's blows but he didn't care.

Paine glanced down at the man then grabbed his hands and locked the cuffs onto his wrists. "You stay within my sights at all times, got it?"

"I don't want to go anywhere else but to see Demyx." He answered gladly taking the restraints.

"Walk." she ordered harshly, nodding her head towards the open cell door.

Xigbar nodded and winced as soon as he wasn't looking at Paine. He exited the cell and looked both ways, trying to assess his location.

"Left." she said and shoved him in the given direction.

"I've been good these past two years, I don't hunt vampires anymore...why can't you trust me?" He asked as he continued to walk.

"With your last incident, I'm not taking any chances with you." she said. "You attack your teammates, disobey orders. You're unstable."

"That was one time, I didn't like what he was doing!" Xigbar's shoulders were hunched. "Who are you?"

"My name is Paine." she said and pressed the button for the elevator. "You may know me as Commander."

Xigbar couldn't help but let out a sudden breath of air. "The Goddess sure had it right when she named you."

The woman smirked and stepped onto the elevator when it arrived. "Mother thought the name would suite me well."

Xigbar followed after her and raised an eyebrow. "Mother?"

"Yes, that is the word that came out of my mouth." she and stabbed at a button.

"What do you mean by Mother?" Xigbar looked at her, eyebrows scrunched together.

Pained stared at the man. "What is the usual definition of a mother?"

"You're telling me that the Goddess is your mother?" Xigbar asked as if not fully comprehending.

"Yes." she said and crossed her arms. "I'm a Prime. One of the first vampires. Third to be exact."

Xigbar looked away. "Third of how many?" He chewed on the inside of his lower lip.

"Seven." She said simply. "Although I've lost an older brother and younger sister."

"Yeah? How'd they die?"

She glared at the man. "How the hell do you think they died?"

Xigbar simply shrugged. "I didn't kill them...least I don't think I did."

"Sephiroth's mate was a hunter; but unlike you his story didn't end as well." she said and let out a sigh. "Ultimecia just took too big a risk and ended up paying for it."

Xigbar looked back to the doors and nodded. "So...what about the other four?"

"Why should I tell you about my siblings?" she asked with an angry glare.

"You're the one who brought up family." Xigbar hunched his shoulders.

"That doesn't mean you get to go around asking questions." she said and the doors to the elevator opened.

"Whatever." Xigbar stepped out of the elevator and recognized where he was. He immediately made his way to the ward.

Paine grabbed the back on his shirt and pulled him back. "Not so fast. Never leave my sight. Remember?"

"Yes, ma'am..." He answered under his breath. "I know where to go from here, I won't do anything stupid."

"I don't care if it's your damn backyard. You don't take one step unless I say it's ok." she said and let go of his shirt.

Xigbar simply let out a long sigh and waited for the order to move. Vexen came out of the research lab with a smile, then looked to Paine and swallowed nervously. He was about to say something but couldn't manage a word.

Paine looked at the blond vampire. "Vexen. How are your experiments going?"

"Ah...th-they're going well. I was wondering if I could speak with Xigbar for a moment?" He pushed some hair behind his ear. Xigbar simply looked at him and raised his hands slightly, gesturing to the cuffs with a 'oh, come on' look, then he jerked his head towards the ward.

Paine glanced at Xigbar then back to Vexen. "Alright. What did you want to talk about?"

Xigbar let out another exasperated sigh and he shook his head. Vexen's smile returned. "It's about my latest experiment, actually. I need a pint of Xigbar's blood, has he fed recently?" Xigbar looked at Vexen as if he suddenly grew a second head.

Paine crossed her arms again. "Yes but unfortunately Xigbar is only allowed to have poisoned blood. I'm sorry he can't help you."

"Oh." Vexen simply said. Xigbar wriggled as a sudden chill went down his spine, the air getting rapidly cooler. Xigbar had actually been starving himself of the blood he was being given but he wasn't about to pipe up and say anything.

She sighed and her arms tightened round herself. "Give me a few days and I'll see what I can do."

The temperature slightly increased but was still a bit chilly. "Great! As soon as possible if you would!" He turned back to go inside the lab.

Xigbar stared at the doors to the ward and then back to Paine. "Can we go now?"

"Don't get antsy." she said and started walking forward. "I'll just take you right back to your cell."

Xigbar nodded again and followed after her. "Demyx isn't dead."

"He might as well be." she said quietly. "I'm getting ready to pull the plug on the poor boy, so to speak."

Xigbar stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean?" He asked quietly.

Paine was silent and she stepped towards Demyx's room. She pushed open the door and stood to the side. "I'm tired of watching them fade away."

"What are you going to do to them?" Xigbar would not move from his spot.

"If a cure isn't found soon... for the ones further along, we're going to give the next of kin a choice." she looked into Xigbar's eye. "And no you are not Demyx's next of kin."

"Luxord would never allow for this to happen!" He moved to go into the room and saw Zexion. "What about him? What serves as next of kin to him?"

"Lexaeus." she said simply. "The order for next of kin is biological family, then mate, then sire, then first fledgling and so on and so forth."

"And you think Lexaeus is gonna let go of him? As if!" He shook his head. "What are you planning on doing with them?"

"It's a simple enough procedure." She said and looked over to Demyx. His skin had become so white it was almost transparent and easily showed off his veins, which now looked black instead of blue. "A few incisions and the blood will flow out on its own."

Xigbar looked down to his hands, noticing they were shaking. "You would kill your own, because you couldn't find out the answer fast enough?" He moved to Demyx his hands holding his mate's gingerly. "Vexen is working his ass off trying to figure this out. How can you just give up?"

"Humans do it all the time." she whispered. "Others have already asked Xigbar. They're suffering, just wasting away..."

Xigbar pulled Demyx into an embrace. "You are a monster. You legitimately are the worst." He felt a tear run down his face. "You can't do this."

"Relax. Luxord has made it perfectly clear that Demyx is to stay alive." she said and leaned against the wall.

"But what about the others, huh?" He shook his head. "They don't get a choice in whether they live or die? That's fucked up!"

"Their loved ones know what they want. Xigbar some people are different." she sighed. "Some people don't want them ending up like this."

Xigbar ran his hands through his hair. "Give me good blood." He begged. "The faster I have good blood in me the faster Vexen can do his experiments! They don't have to die!"

Paine sighed. "Alright, but you're going to be secluded to your cell until we put you back on the poison." she said.

"How long are you going to keep me down there?" Xigbar asked quietly, watching Demyx.

"A few days." she shrugged. "Maybe a week."

"Why?" He looked down. "Why, I've been down there for weeks. What's the point?"

"I don't trust you." Paine said simply. "I'll keep you in isolation until I see fit."

"I'm not gonna run away, not unless I feel Demyx is in danger." Xigbar looked back up to Paine. "Keep me in the labs with Vexen, I-I can be an extra pair of hands for him."

"Absolutely not." she closed her eyes and shook her head. "The laboratory is not secure enough."

"I...I can't stay down there much longer. What could I possibly do to make you trust me?"

She crossed her arms and stepped over to him. "Fine. I see how much you love Demyx, he's good security. I'll let you stay in the lab under several conditions." She stopped in front of him. "I'm going to need to put in a new security door, and there will be guards posted in and outside of the lab. You don't go anywhere unless it's ok'd by me and you're to be escorted by no less than three guards at all times. One will be a time manipulator. You try to use your power, and you will be shot down. Is that understood?"

"Of course." He nodded. "I'll do anything. I won't-wait...what do you mean Demyx is good security?" Xigbar swallowed, leaning over his body. He wished he could pick him up and hold him but with Paine watching he didn't want to risk anything she may do.

"As long as we have Demyx under lock and key, you won't go anywhere." she said with a smirk. "Don't worry he won't be harmed."

Xigbar looked down. "Do I not get to see him anymore?" He moved some hair from Demyx's face.

"No I suppose you can still see him." she said and looked down at the blond in the bed. "Like Luxord said, it's cruel to keep someone from their mate."

Xigbar let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." He took a deep breath, then blinked. He sniffed again and narrowed his eye.

Paine looked down at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Something's weird..." Xigbar let go of Demyx and walked around the bed, closer to Paine. He sniffed again.

Paine stepped back and narrowed her eyes at him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Xigbar walked over to Zexion and smelled him and looked back to Paine. "You smell like them."

Paine crossed her arms. "Excuse me?"

"Your blood...it smells the same as Demyx and Zexion. Uhh..." Xigbar rubbed his nose. "Zexion has this sort of...honey kind of scent and Demyx is this light...uhm..." He gesticulated a bit and frowned, trying to recall the smell.

"You can smell our blood?" she asked incredulously as she raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side.

Xigbar nodded. "At first I thought it was just something all vampires had, but Luxord explained that it's...kind of abnormal to be able to pick up the scents of other vampires."

"Uh, yeah." she said and took a step back. "And a bit on the weird side."

"It's not like I'm actively sniffing other vampires, it's the only thing I can smell." Xigbar approached her slowly. "Why do they smell like you?"

"I don't know." she snapped. "All the Primes have the same blood. We inherited it from our mother."

"Something's not right..." He muttered and went back to Demyx. He leaned close to him and closed his eyes as he tried to get a better whiff but Demyx's scent had all but left him. "This isn't right at all."

"What are you talking about?" she asked stepping over to Demyx's bed.

"I can't smell him, all I can smell is...why doesn't he smell like..." Xigbar huffed and scrunched his eyebrows together. "Rain..."

"Demyx smells like rain?" she asked softly then gave a half smile. "That suites him."

Xigbar looked up to Paine. "Would it be too much to ask for some privacy?"

Paine lost her smile and stared at him. She glanced around the room then back to Xigbar. "I will be right outside the door. Don't try anything."

As soon as Paine closed the door Xigbar cautiously lifted Demyx and cradled him into his arms. "Demyx...I wish I could tell for sure that you're still here...I can't smell you anymore and that worries me." He held his mate's head to his chest, gently rocking back and forth. "Vexen's asked for my blood...what could he possibly want with it?" He could feel his stomach turn to knots. "I don't want you to die...I never wanted you to die." Xigbar whispered and could feel tears leak down the side of his face. "She's going to kill them if there isn't a cure soon." He swallowed. "Funny how I've killed so many vampires and now I want to save them all...it's really ironic." He mumbled into his hair. Xigbar breathed deeply and sighed. "Why do you smell like a Prime?" He hugged the still vampire and kissed him gently on the lips. "I gotta go." Xigbar set Demyx back down into the bed and rubbed his arm sluggishly, then went to the door, opening it slowly. "Thank you." He whispered.

"Sure." she said and looked over her shoulder at him. "Ready to go back to your cell?"

Xigbar nodded. "Can I ask you a question...about ethics?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

"What would you do if a vampire was picking on another vampire...like bullying but on a psychological standpoint?"

"Well I wouldn't be able to do anything unless they wanted help." she said and led Xigbar back to the elevator. "Why do you ask?"

"The vampire I punched...all but one hunter was still alive and he...was using his power to make her tear out her eye then forced her to eat it." He swallowed, looking down at the ground. "Then he took her dagger and sliced up her face." Xigbar shook his head.

"I know, it was in the report." she said calmly.

"He was mocking me." Xigbar whispered. "I couldn't let him keep going so I killed her." He looked down at his hands. "Was it really so bad for me to...make him stop?"

Paine was silent and stopped at the elevator to push the button. "You went too far."

"What was too far?" Xigbar continued to look down. "Forcing him to lose his focus and relinquish his power over her or killing her?"

"Punching him." she said and stepped into the now open elevator.

Xigbar looked up as he entered the elevator. "If Luxord had punched him would he be in a cell?"

Paine frowned and looked at him as she pressed the button for the bottom floor. "No."

"So really...you were just waiting for an excuse to lock me up." He set his jaw and closed his palms into tight fists.

"You could say that." she said and looked over to him. "But it was not your place to punish him Xigbar."

"I just wanted him to stop." He answered. "I'm sure the report fails to mention that I repeatedly asked him to stop it."

Paine paused and leaned against the wall. "It does."

"Would that have changed anything if it did?" Xigbar asked slowly.

"Possibly." she said slowly and sighed. "Maybe we should let you submit a report..."

He shook his head. "There's no point. You want to keep me locked up and watched, completely vulnerable. You want to teach me a lesson that I will never be trusted."

"I wouldn't say never." she said and stepped out of the elevator. "Maybe Demyx can convince me differently."

"Oh he would." Xigbar answered quickly. "I can only imagine what he'd think of my current situation." He followed after her.

"He probably wouldn't like it." she said stopped at his door. "That's what Luxord said. So maybe you should wake him up ASAP."

"I will." He went into his room and turned around holding up his wrists. "If I don't I'll make sure you don't have to worry about me anymore."

Paine unlocked the cuffs and put them in her back pocket. "I'll come get you once the door is installed."

"Thank you." Xigbar once more whispered. He moved to sit down on his bed and rubbed his hands together as he began to think, after all there really wasn't much else to do.

Paine stared at the man then left the room and shut the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Reno pulled the hood of his jacket over his head and slipped his goggles on. He rubbed his wrist where Marluxia had bit him so many years ago and moved to start heading to HQ. He looked back to the car, stopping. "Call me ridiculous but I really don't want to draw any more attention to myself than I have to. I'd much rather look like some hood you dragged out of an alley than a walking ghost."

Rude stepped up to him and kissed the side of his head as he took his hand. "Just relax."

"I am relaxed...I just don't want to cause a scene." Reno followed Rude's lead into the building and leaned closer to him. "Where should we go?"

"Maybe we should find Paine." he said and squeezed his hand. "Or Marluxia."

"Whoever we find first then." Reno nodded and walked in. Suddenly, faces of the vampires who passed by told him he knew quite a few of these people but there were some fresh faces. He put a hand to his forehead.

Rude looked down at him and stopped walking. "Are you ok?"

"It's just...a lot of information coming in." He muttered. "I can't...Go find one of them and tell them I'm here." He went to find a seat and looked down.

Rude frowned but nodded and headed off towards the elevator.

Just as Rude turned the corner Marluxia walked through the front doors and only took a few steps before he stopped short and looked around before his eyes landed on Reno.

Reno was hunched over in the seat, rocking a bit back and forth as he tried to keep all the information from flooding his mind all at once.

Marluxia walked over to the hooded figure and took a breath. "Reno?" he asked in an almost silent whisper.

The red-head barely peeked up and his eyes widened. "Marluxia." He nodded.

Marluxia's eyes widened and he instantly pulled the red head to his chest. "Oh Goddess, Reno..."

"I don't want much attention," he whispered and kept his eyes closed. "Can you take me someplace there aren't a lot of people?"

"Of course." he said and pulled back and started down a hallway. "Did you just now... come back?"

Reno shook his head as he followed after. "No, I...I've been around for a year, but...I may have been walking about for more than that I can't remember it all."

"A year? What have you been doing for a year?" he asked and pulled Reno into an empty conference room. "And... have you met with Axel yet?"

"I can't recall much about the time before Rude found me." He cleared his throat. "And yeah, I was at Axel's...for the past few days."

Marluxia sat the man down in a chair and sat down next to him. "Who's Rude? And what happened with Axel?"

"Rude's my partner." Reno chewed on his lip. "I was baiting and ran into Epping...got shot...it was sheer luck that we ended up at...at the house."

"Got shot?" Marluxia leaned forward with concern. "Are you alright?"

"It's actually really the only reason I'm here." He pushed his goggles up and rubbed at his eyes. "I'm immune to the poison that's got no cure."

Marluxia stared at his fledgling. "You're... you're immune?" he paused. "Vexen has already tried my blood but you might be different."

"I might be different?" Reno looked up at Marluxia incredulously. "I died! And now I find out that the Goddess resurrected me! I don't know what I am!" He leaned forward and dug his fingers into his hair. "I came here, thinking that maybe someone could explain it all to me."

Marluxia took Reno's hand from his forehead and held them tightly. "I'm sorry." he said softly. "I have no idea why she brought you back, but I'll do my best to help you find out."

"Axel said she brought me back for him-that his mate was supposed to die or something...which only made me think...what would happen to Rude if his mate died?" Reno frowned.

"So Rude, he's you're mate?" he asked softly and looked into his eyes. "He would go through a breakdown."

"I would never do that to Rude." Reno frowned. "He's kept me safe and out of sight this whole time."

"The Goddess has made it perfectly clear who both you and Axel are supposed to be with." He said and cupped Reno's cheek gently.

"But why? Why me? There are plenty of vampires who lost their mate that deserve to come back besides me." Reno frowned.

"You gave up your life to save your mate, when you could have easily killed them." he frowned. "Why didn't you just fight?"

Reno sucked on his lips and looked back down. "I did. I fought and bled and..." He sighed. "I didn't want to risk them finding Axel." He quickly answered looking away.

Marluxia ran his fingers through Reno's hair. "You're such an amazing vampire Reno, and I am so happy that you're back."

"I'm not." He whispered, not looking to his sire.

"What?" he frowned and tilted Reno's head up. "You're not glad to be back?"

Reno shook his head. "I was fine up until a few nights ago. I didn't know who Reno was, I just knew that my name was Reno." He frowned.

"You must be very confused right now." he said softly. "So other than that, how have you been?"

Reno was glad Marluxia wasn't pushing it. "Great, actually. I started killing hunters with Rude and it felt amazing. Never went to HQ, made him go instead and just-" He looked up to the door when he heard a knock.

"Marluxia?" Namine held a clipboard to her chest as she waited for a response.

Marluxia looked over to the door then back to his fledgling. "Would you like to see Namine?" he asked quietly.

Reno pulled his goggles down and pulled the hood back up. "See her, sure. Her see me?" He shook his head. "The fewer people who know that I'm around, the better."

Marluxia frowned but nodded. "I understand, but she would love to know that you're back." he said then turned to the door. "Come on in Namine."

"I'm sure she'll figure it out soon, she's a nosy girl." He crossed his arms and legs, looking away from the door.

Namine opened the door and smiled to Marluxia. "Oh, uh...sorry...Here's the dossiers you requested." She handed him the clipboard. She looked to Reno. "You must be new my name is Namine." She held her hand out to shake. Reno simply lifted a hand that acknowledged her presence.

Marluxia took the clipboard and smiled at the girl. "Thank you Namine. Don't worry about him, he's just shy." he said with a small laugh.

"Oh, is he new?" She looked at him more closely. "I hope to see you again sometime." Namine stepped back. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"You could say that." he said with a smile. "Yes that's it Namine."

"Okay." She started to leave and kept her eyes on Reno. As Namine opened the door and stepped out she stopped midway and closed the door quickly behind her, accidentally slamming the door. She leaned back on the door and covered her mouth.

Reno shook his head and closed his eyes. "You can always count on that girl to pry." He muttered.

"She just likes to know what's going on." he said and leaned back in his chair. "She's a good kid."

Reno sighed. "I didn't want to come here." He frowned. "I really didn't want to come here, especially when my memories returned."

"But everyone is going to be so happy to see you." he said and looked at his fledgling.

"Happy to see me?" Reno shook his head. "I'm not that person anymore. I know them all, but I can't just pick up where we left off. Reno died."

Marluxia crossed his legs. "So let them get to know the new you." he said with a shrug. "Reno, no one is going to care if you're different now."

"Except I'm so different that I might be the one who can cure the people." He leaned forward. "I'm only doing this to make sure that Rude won't fall to the same poison."

Namine opened the door again after a few minutes and walked to Reno and standing in front of him. She grabbed his hand and held it, simply staring at the hand. Reno looked up. "Namine..."

Namine bit her lip then swallowed and sank to her knees, tears about to fall from her eyes. "It is you..." she whispered.

Reno placed a hand on her head. "Namine...I'm sorry." He gently pet her head. "Axel knows. No one else does."

Tears flowed down her cheeks and she sniffled a little before placing her head in Reno's lap. "I missed you... I missed you so much." she managed to get out before she started sobbing.

"Shh...I'm so sorry to have put you through what I did." He pushed up his goggles.

Her shoulders shook with her crying and she fisted a hand into Reno's pants. "It's just... you were just... gone. And then Axel and... I never got the chance..."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "I couldn't let Axel know." He whispered. "I left Axel my ten...I should have left you something as well."

Namine sniffled again and looked up at Reno. "I don't care about that... Why did you have to die?"

"You know why, Nam." He took a deep breath. "I left you with the burden of taking care of him...thank you."

"Namine, dry your tears. He's here now, that's what counts." Marluxia said and put a hand on her shoulder.

Namine looked up into Reno's eyes. "Yes, but how?"

"Apparently the Goddess wasn't done with me..." He stood up pulling Namine into a hug.

Namine gasped then slowly put her arms around the man, burying her face into his chest. "Never leave again, ok?"

"I hope I never get to the point I was at." He rubbed her back, kissing her forehead. Reno looked up to Marluxia. "Keep me a secret okay?"

Marluxia nodded and stood up from his chair.

Namine looked up with a frown. "Even from Lux?"

"Especially from him." Reno smiled. "I hear my death caused a domino effect that really rocked people. He'd beat the crap out of me."

"He's going to find out sooner or later." she said with a sigh. "Just let him hear it from you, ok?"

"Do I have to?" Reno pulled away and touched her cheek. "Okay...but don't tell him until I'm ready."

Namine nodded and pulled back from Reno. "Alright. There's something else you should know. Br-"

"Namine." Marluxia cut her off and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let me talk to him about that."

Reno furrowed his brow. "You should get back to work Nam. I've got my partner looking for Paine. If you see either of them, send them this way?" He thought of Rude and poked her forehead to transfer his image.

Namine smiled and took a step towards the door. "Your new mate." she stated. "He look's nice."

"He is." Reno crossed his arms then looked to Marluxia. "So what will you be talking to me about?"

Marluxia waited until Namine had left and motioned for Reno to sit down. He took his own seat and crossed his legs. "I don't know how you'll take this but, one of the hunters that killed you, Braig. He's still alive."

Reno nodded. "He's a damn good hunter." He looked down and rubbed his arms. "So the other two are gone?"

"Yeah." he said. "Except Braig isn't a hunter anymore. You're not the only one who had their lives turned upside down."

"Is that so." He leaned back. "What's up with the man who took me down?"

"One of us now." he answered simply and crossed his arms. "Demyx's mate."

"I'll have to ask Demyx about that...that's very interesting..." He shook his head. "Look at me wanting to cut ties and I just want to chat it up with all the people I used to know..."

"Do you really not want anything to do with us?" Marluxia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't even know I had been alive for over two thousand years. I just don't want people to assume that I'm the same, but now I feel like I'm changing anyway. I don't want to lose Rude."

Marluxia tilted his head to the side. "What makes you think you'll lose him?"

"I'm not the man that Axel fell in love with. Axel has his own mate and I don't want to put him through pain." Reno shook his head. "I don't know what the Goddess has planned for me."

"Nobody ever does, but don't you think you'd want to be around friends for whenever it goes down?" he asked.

"I just want my life to go back to the way it was, hunting vampires and being with Rude." Reno closed his eyes. "I...I don't want to go back to Axel." He whispered.

"No one's making you come back to me."

Marluxia turned to see Axel standing in the doorway, and he smiled. "Axel."

Axel nodded at the pink haired vampire and stepped into the room. "Reno, it's true that the Goddess brought you back for me, but frankly; and no offense, but I don't really need you as my mate anymore."

 _'Rude...please come find me.'_ Reno looked up. "That's good." He swallowed. "I really wish I had the connection to her as you do. I want answers for why she brought me back." He stood up his face hardening.

"I wouldn't really call it a connection." Axel said and rubbed the back on his head. "More like she just invaded my head when I was sleeping."

"You seem to be the only one who has any form of an answer." Reno narrowed his eyes. "Did Namine send you here?"

Axel nodded. "Yeah, but look I know just as much as you. Alright?"

Reno shook his head. "Marluxia where do I need to go to figure out what's going on with me?"

Marluxia looked between the two men then sighed. "Perhaps Vexen can offer some insight. I'll take you down to the lab."

"There's no need." Rude said from the doorway. "I'll take him."

Marluxia frowned. "Is Namine the only one who knows how to knock?"

"No I told him to come here, he doesn't have to knock." Reno went to the door. "Let's go." He frowned.

Rude put an arm around Reno's waist and pulled him close as he led him away from the conference room. Marluxia and Axel followed behind them.

 _'Goddess, Rude, I need to talk to you alone.'_ Reno closed his eyes and leaned into his mate. _'You know this place better than I do, please.'_

Rude frowned and looked down at his mate before looking over his shoulder at the two behind them. He locked eyes with Marluxia who in turn stopped and grabbed Axel's wrist. Rude took the moment to pull Reno into a stairwell and started down.

Reno followed after Rude and gave a sigh of relief. "All this information keeps coming in and I keep remembering things I don't even want to know."

"It's not something you can stop, babe." he said and took Reno's hand. "You're memories are going to keep coming back." He led Reno out into an empty hall.

"Rude...I know why I died." He stopped and took his mate's face in his hands. "It scares me and I feel weak because of it."

Rude frowned and took Reno's hands in his own. "It must be something, if it's got you scared."

"I was tired of life." He whispered. "I never thought that it could ever be possible and I'm worried. What if I get tired of life again?"

Rude stared at him with a frown. "So you're telling me that you committed suicide? Via hunters?"

Reno nodded. "It just happened to be the most convenient. At first I fought hard, and then I just...I stopped."

Rude was silent then slowly took off his glasses, folded them and put them in his shirt pocket. He took Reno's face in his hands and stared into his eyes. "If you ever, _ever_ , get those thoughts... you let me know. Immediately." his eyes were filled with love and concern; and also a little bit of fear.

"I will." Reno whispered. "I promise I will tell you." He looked into his eyes. "I love you, so much...and all I feel right now is this crushing fear. I want to go back to the old me, the one who didn't know anything about his past and didn't care."

"It's too late to go back." he whispered and pulled Reno close. "I know you're scared, but I'm here and I'll protect you."

"I know crying's uncool...but can I just..." Reno clung to Rude, displaying to him possibly the weakest he'd ever seen anyone before. He began to sob into his shirt.

Rude wove his fingers into Reno's hair and tightened his arms around his mate. "It's ok..." he whispered softly.

"I betrayed him...I betrayed...my mate. I.." He continued to mumble through the sobs. "I'm such a coward."

Rude held his lover and frowned. "Reno, baby, that was the past..." he whispered, kissing the top of his head.

"I know...I'm not that Reno." he lifted his head and wiped at his face. "I just...can't start conversations as if I've known someone for a long time with no problem..."

"That's understandable babe, no one's forcing you to do anything." he sighed and looked down at the red head and he stroked his cheek. "Now you're face is going to be all red and puffy."

"I know it's uncool and totally not my style...crying just isn't sexy." Reno muttered. "One thing though...my personality has changed. So I guess that's a good thing..."

Rude smiled. "Yeah, I like my Reno just the way he is." he pulled Reno close and kissed him softly.

Reno kissed him back and breathed slowly. "I love you." He pulled away. "I'm sorry for that I just...I had to let it out, I feel like I'm going crazy right now."

Rude stared down at his mate and nodded. "Alright, that settles it. I'm taking you home. You've had enough excitement for one day."

"But what about going to Vexen?" He bit his lip.

"He can wait one more day." he said and took Reno's hand. "You're too stressed out. I hate seeing you like this."

"Alright..." He took a breath and stood up straight. "Two times with your sunglasses off in a single day, what did I do to deserve such a thing?" He smiled.

Rude grinned and slipped the glasses back onto his face. "I felt like you just needed to see my eyes I guess."

The red-head grinned. "Thank you." He kissed the side of his head. "You're the best...really you are."

"I know." he said with a smile and led Reno back up the stairs.

Reno pulled back his 'disguise' and sighed, "I think I might just close my eyes all the way to the car." He smiled.

Rude smiled and squeezed Reno's hand. "I'll be sure to lead you safely."

"I have no doubts." Reno said after they reached the top of the steps. He closed his eyes and hugged onto Rude.

Rude put and arm around his mate and without another word led him quickly out of the building.

(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

Nine lay sleeping atop of King, head lying on his stomach and arms draped across his body from the chair he had been sitting in. Most days he would be doing just this if he wasn't roaming the halls. After visiting each room and finding that he didn't know nearly as many as he thought he should have he simply went to watch his mate.

Luxord walked into the room quietly and shut the door behind him. He smiled when he saw the sleeping boy and gently shook his shoulder. "Hey... you're going to hurt your back if you sleep like that."

"Nn." Nine looked up and yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Luxord? What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you. Lulu says you never leave the hospital ward." he said and pulled up a chair to sit next to him.

"I don't see why I should." He mumbled and started to smooth out King's clothing. Nine wet his lips and leaned back in his seat.

Luxord folded his hands in his lap and stared at Nine. "She also says you haven't been feeding."

"Neither has King." He yawned again, then looked to Luxord, his eyes slowly gaining a red hue. "I don't feed until after he does."

"Nine..." Luxord sighed. "King is in a coma. He can't feed. You know that, so quit being stubborn."

"But I'm not hungry." Nine answered simply, honesty clear in his voice.

"That may be but, your eyes are turning red Nine." he said softly. "King wouldn't like that you're not feeding."

Nine sighed. "So really, you came to take me hunting?" He stared at King and folded his hands in his lap.

"Yes." he said simply. "Well that and Lulu told me that if you don't start taking care of yourself and keep acting like a walking corpse she's going to request you be removed from the ward and placed with a Watcher."

"I don't need a Watcher!" Nine stood up and spoke loudly. He quickly looked over to King, as if worried he'd wake him.

"I know Nine, but Lulu thinks you do." he said and held up a hand. "And if she takes it up with Paine there's nothing I can do. Now you can either let me help you help yourself; or you can look forward to seeing King on a limited schedule."

Nine huffed and stalked out the door of the room. "Let's go then." He forced out and curled his fists.

Luxord followed after him and grabbed his wrist. "Hey, now just calm down." he said sternly. "I know that you are extremely pissed off right now. Trust me I understand, but you have to keep your head."

"Well yeah, if you're telling me I need a Watcher just because I'm roaming the halls...what could I possibly need one for?" Nine glared at Luxord.

"You're upsetting some of the other visitors." he said and kept his hand on Nine's wrist. "She just wants to make sure that you're taken care of. When was that last time you went home?"

"My home isn't in this country, Luxord..." He muttered. "I have nowhere else to go."

Luxord frowned and let out a sigh. "Then you should come stay with Xaldin and I. You need to get some real rest."

Nine shook his head. "I'm staying with King. I'm gonna go out and hunt and then I'm going to come right back here."

"It's not good for you to stay cooped up in here all day and night." Luxord crossed his arms. "Please Nine."

Nine stopped moving. "No! Goddess you are the Watcher!" He crossed his arms. "I'm not hurting anyone-I'm going to talk to Lulu." He started off to look for her.

"Nine!" he took off after the boy and grabbed his wrist again. "Look, yes Lulu asked me if I would be your Watcher, but that's not an official title yet."

Nine yanked his wrist from Luxord, then looked back to King's room. "I'll go if King comes too."

"You know that King has to stay here." he shook his head. "But you can come to the hospital every day; we only live a few blocks from here."

"Why? Why does he have to stay here? There's nothing happening in each of the rooms. I've watched nearly all of them for a good hour and nothing has changed in any of them. Why does it matter where they are?" Nine snapped.

"It's where the higher up's what them. You don't think that everyone would love to take their loved ones home?" he put a hand on Nine's shoulder. "If I could, I would."

After a moment Nine nodded. "I'll be right back." He went back to King's room and closed the door behind him before leaning over King. "I hate that you scowl even when you sleep." He bent down to kiss his lips gently. "I'll be here every day...just not every hour." He whispered, then turned to leave the room. "Okay let's go."

Luxord put an arm around Nine's shoulders and squeezed. "Thank you Nine. You made the right choice."

"It's not the right choice." Nine replied. "It's just the choice that was the best decision."

"It's better than the alternative." Luxord said with a half-smile.

"Alternatively you could be speaking with King." He walked calmly off to the exit of the ward. "He sure as hell wouldn't be doing what I was doing. He'd be out there killing more hunters."

"You don't know that." he looked over at Nine. "King would probably be worse off than you are."

"My job is to watch over King, King's job is to kill hunters." Nine looked over his shoulder. "King's a lot stronger than I am, he would keep at it."

"You would think, but he would most likely end up in a bed right next to you." he called the elevator. "Grief makes one careless."

"Are we gonna hunt or talk about what may or may not have happened?" Nine looked disgruntled now.

Luxord chuckled and walked into the opening elevator. "You get moody when you're hungry."

Nine rolled his eyes. "If I stay with you at your place you and Xaldin aren't going to be fuck-bunnies and keep me up all night are you?" He went into the elevator and crossed his arms.

Luxord chuckled and gave the boy a smirk. "Xaldin's pretty good at being quiet."

"Right... I have lived with you before." He sighed again. "Whoever's working on a cure better find it fast."

Luxord laughed again and smiled at the other blond. "It's good to know that you haven't changed."

"King's given me a loyalty complex. If that wasn't obvious enough..." He sighed. "It may not show on my record but you'll still be Watching...what are the rules?"

Luxord smiled. "Just try to stay out of trouble, and keep yourself fed." he pushed the L button. "Just let me know where you're going if you go out."

"If I go out I'll be going to be with King or hunting with you...so that won't be too difficult." He looked to the ground. "How do you cope?" He asked quietly.

Luxord was silent for a minute then sighed. "Xaldin's been a big help, but what really gets me through everyday... is knowing that I can't give up. As soon as you give in to despair, that's when everything is lost." he looked over at Nine. "As long as I'm alive I'm going to keep fighting for him. That's what he would want, what they would all want."

"I heard that Paine's going to start...'letting them go' at least...the ones who first fell." He frowned. "How can she just make a decision like that?"

"She's been getting pressure from some of the visitors. For some, their hope has run out, and they're tired of holding on." he crossed his arms. "You don't have to worry, if it comes down to it you're King's next of kin. You have the final say in what happens to him."

Nine shook his head. "His next of kin is still alive." He whispered.

Luxord's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "He still has living family?"

Nine nodded. "His older brother. I think he's sixty something." He looked up. "How old do you think King is?"

Luxord shrugged. "I thought he was about fifty. Is that right? Or is he older?" he asked as the elevator doors opened.

"Fifty-seven." Nine cleared his throat. "His brother knows."

"Well what do you think he'll decide on?" he asked softly.

"Trey is very traditional. He doesn't approve of King's...decisions." Nine followed behind. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't-" He looked around and frowned when there were too many ears that could hear.

"His decisions?" Luxord raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean exactly?"

Nine held the back of his neck. "Being a vampire...being with me..."

Luxord raised his eyebrows. "He doesn't like you I take it."

"No, King visits him occasionally and after the first time I came it was clear he did not want me around...like I was going to do something with his children..." He frowned.

"I'm sorry to hear that." he said softly as they left the building. He pulled out his keys once they got close to his car.

"I don't know what to do." Nine stopped walking. "If I tell him he'll choose to let him go. He'd be more than happy to say so."

"Then I guess we'll have to keep it a secret for as long as we can." Luxord said with a wink and opened his car door.

A twitch of a smile hit Nine's face as he quickly got into the car. "Please don't tell anyone."

"I won't but you have to pretend like you don't know anything about the mercy deaths ok?" he asked and started the car. "Or else you could get in trouble for withholding next of kin information."

"Of course! I won't say a thing." Nine looked over to Luxord. "Thank you."

Luxord smiled and drove away from headquarters. "You're welcome."

(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

Fuu stared through the observation window of the cell which held the most powerful vampire the hunters had ever seen. She sniffed and rubbed her nose. The vampire had all sorts of things attached to him: things to study him with, things taking his blood away, drips of drugs and poisoned blood. She shook her head and leaned back in her seat. Fuu wasn't much for talking but her partner more than made up for the both of them. She knew she'd have to go in there eventually.

Rai was leaning against the wall looking through the window and let out a sigh. "Gets tiring, ya know? Doing this over and over."

"Mm." Fuu nodded. "It's temporary.

He pushed off from the wall and walked over to the girl, still looking through the window. "Wonder why he hasn't given up yet. Just give up and die, you know?"

"He can't. We pump him full of bad blood, while we take what's left of his essence." She glanced over to a monitor that let out a short beep. "He's becoming lucid."

"You ready?" he asked and looked over at her.

"Don't come in too early." She reminded him as she walked over to put on a wig and proper clothing to match the disguise she was wearing. Fuu rubbed at her face, schooling into a hopeful look and she opened the door. As soon as she made it to the door to the cell she took a deep breath and 'stumbled' inside, slamming the door behind her. As she had done many times before she looked up, a scared and confused look on her face before she settled her eyes on the vampire. "Goddess, is that you?" Her voice wasn't nearly as good as Quistis could mimic but it'd have to do.

The vampire looked up and his eyes widened. He leaned forward the chains holding his wrists to the wall clinked together quietly. "Lu-Lucrecia...?" he whispered hoarsely.

Fuu got up from the floor and went to Vincent quickly. "Goddess, what have they done to you?" She pushed his black hair back and lifted his face. "Vincent..."

He leaned into her hands and closed his eyes. "You're alright..." he breathed and tears slipped past his eyelids.

Fuu nodded and wiped his face. "I am but they have me here, we're trapped."

He fisted his hands and looked up at her. "I won't let them hurt you."

She cautiously pressed her forehead to his. "I trust you with my life." Fuu whispered and closed her eyes. "I love you."

Vincent closed his eyes and attempted to move closer to her but was held back by the chains. "I love you Lucrecia..." he paused then opened his eyes. "Can you remove these chains?"

Fuu quickly thought if Quistis would do such a thing and took a slow breath. "I...I can try." She moved to touch the chains where they were locked and held them. After a moment she pressed the button that disengaged his left wrist.

Vincent let his arm fall then gave a soft smile and put the arm around Fuu's waist. "I never thought I would hold you again."

Fuu swallowed and felt herself being pulled in. "I thought I had lost you...I'm so glad that we're finally back together."

He looked up at her and frowned. "Did they hurt you?"

Fuu shook her head. "No. Well...when they got me a little, but I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Vincent pulled her closer and buried his face into her hair. "I'll kill them for hurting you... All of them..."

Fuu knew she was too close now. "We'll do it. Together." She repeated the word that would signal Rai to bust in and take her away. She pulled away so she could lean in to kiss but she moved slowly so that she wouldn't actually have to do it.

Rai burst through the door and glared at the vampire. "There you are." he said and walked over to the two. "We can't have you running off, you know?"

Vincent growled and his arm tightened around his faux mate. "Don't you touch her."

"Please!" Fuu placed her hands on Vincent's shoulders. "Don't take me away! Let me be with him!" She could feel her heart pounding and hoped Vincent wouldn't pick up on that.

"You know we can't do that." he said and moved forward to rip her from Vincent's arms.

Fuu gave a bit of a struggle and moved to swing her arms at Rai in a mock attack. "I'll kill you!" She dropped the second signal word.

Rai pulled out a dagger from a hips holster and flipped it in his hands. He brought the weapon down onto Fuu's chest but instead on the blade sinking into her body in retracted into the handle and a thick red liquid spurted out.

"No!" Vincent screamed and held out his free hand, his other pulling against the chain.

Fuu dropped to the ground and put a hand to her chest squeezing more of the blood packet. "Vincent!" She yelled back hoarsely as Rai began to pull her from the room. "Vincent, no!" She looked up to Rai. "Let me go..."

Rai pulled his partner from the room and slammed the door.

Vincent struggled against his remaining restraint, trying to remove the cuff. When the metal finally opened he fell to the floor. "Lucrecia!"

Fuu screamed as loud as she could towards the door then looked to Rai. "What the _fuck_ , Rai?" She kept her voice low as she pulled off the wig and let out another scream.

The man laughed and shrugged. "What? It looked like you were having a good time, you know?"

This scream was more subdued with an added whimper. "Why didn't you come the first time I said together-that was way too close!"

"You were fine." he said with a laugh and he turned when there was a loud bang on the door. "It gets so boring, doing it so many times. You gotta mix it up, you know?"

"Next time you wanna fuck around with people's lives you do it with your own!" She squeezed a blood packet and it sprayed across his face. "Go show him your good work!"

Rai chuckled and watched her leave he shook his head and went back into the cell. He pushed Vincent back and frowned down at him. "Your girlfriend sure made a mess of the place, you know?"

Vincent growled angrily at Rai. "Give her back to me!" He could feel his power swelling in him but he couldn't force it out of himself, as if something was utterly blocking it. "Give me back Lucrecia!"

Rai gave him a sideways glance and laughed. "What would you want with a corpse?"

The realization slowly crept into his eyes and Vincent dropped to his knees. "Lucrecia..." He began to weep and he bowed his head forward. "Lucrecia!" He shouted to the floor and beat his hand against it. After a while he began his mantra of repeating her name over and over again. He was in a full breakdown.

Rai pulled the vampire back to the wall and put his arms back into the cuffs. "There we go, back in place."

Fuu had already changed into her clothing and was wiping the fake blood from her neck. She stared at Rai as he affixed the vampire back onto the wall and started the preparations for the extraction of his blood.

Once Rai was done with Vincent he walked back into the viewing room. "Another job well done."

She stared as the blood coming out of Vincent came out black. "Who knew this would be the end all for vampires. The blood of a powerful vampire in sorrow."

Rai smirked and crossed his arms. "It's making our job real easy, you know?"

"It is and once every vampire is dead and gone, Vincent can finally die." She muttered, tossing the towel to Rai to clean his face.

"Seifer would have liked their existence to be wiped out." She spoke quietly.

Rai frowned and looked down. "Yeah. We'll do it for him, you know?"

Fuu narrowed her eyes. "You ever try to liven up your watch using me as entertainment I'll shove you into Vincent's arms."

Rai smiled. "Fine. Fine." he said holding up his hands. "Whatever you say Fuu."

"He was too close. When I say the words you need to be there immediately. Quistis would have had you for doing what you did." She muttered.

He gave her a half smile and leaned against the wall. "Were you scared?"

"Terrified." She answered simply. "No one knows how bad it is to be considered a source of food like the girls who dress up as Lucrecia. You get the easy job."

"I never would have let anything happen to you Fuu." He said with a smile. "I got your back, you know?"

"I wonder why Lucrecia isn't giving us the same results...she's powerful enough." She frowned.

"Maybe not as powerful at Vincent." Rai said with a shrug. "Maybe it's because Vincent is older?"

"We don't even know how old either of them are. As if we can get enough information out of them before their lucidity becomes clear and that they are being deceived." Fuu frowned.

"We may never find out." he said and gave another shrug. "I'm just glad we have a better way to get rid of them, you know?"

Fuu nodded in agreement. "We have the worst job."

Rai laughed and nodded back. "The absolute worst."

(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

Xigbar looked up at the ceiling of his cell and flexed his fingers making small portals but doing nothing with them. It felt like he couldn't hold his power for long, as if something was pushing it back.

The door to the cell opened and Paine walked in. "You ready to move?" she asked.

Xigbar quickly closed the portal he was trying to open and sat up. "Yeah, totally ready."

Paine raised an eyebrow at him. "You remember our rules?"

"Yes, of course." He looked to the ground. "I wasn't...wasn't gonna do anything."

Paine motioned with a finger for him to follow. "Come on then. And no more portals."

Xigbar nodded and got off of the bed. "Okay, got it...I just wanted to flex a bit." He said quietly as he followed her out of the cell.

"I know how you feel. You get... twitchy if you can't use your powers. Right?" she said and looked over her shoulder at him.

Xigbar cracked a smile. "Oh, I know twitchy fine. Powers or not." He looked up to Paine. "But I also know if you don't use something you typically use daily...all that's left is muscle memory and that only goes so far."

"We'll see what we can do about getting you some training time in." she said with a smirk and called the elevator.

"Really?" Xigbar tilted his head a bit but looked down. "Solo training or...with others? Because if it's with others I'd like to just work with...the people I know."

"How about Luxord and myself?" she asked and stepped into the elevator.

"Luxord's a real pain to train with. I've only hit the man once, and it wasn't during training. I think he just let me." He followed her. "I don't know how you feel about me."

"That makes two of us." she said and looked over at him as the doors closed. "You know there's a trick to beating Luxord." she smirked.

"I'm for sure you'll never tell me that." He crossed his arms. "I know you don't trust me at all and I'm fine with that, but not having you trust me is an issue for me."

"We'll work up to that." she said and crossed her arms.

"To be honest for the majority of my life no one trusted me. That's why I just preferred to work alone." Xigbar looked back down. "I...it's just Luxord and Xaldin that trust me..."

She stared at him. "Does it bother you that no one trusts you?"

"Well, see...when no one trusts you that means that you don't have to trust anyone, don't have to care about how your actions affect others...but when you get people to trust you and you legitimately care it's so hard to make sure you don't offend." He frowned.

"So you just don't want to piss anyone off." she said and looked to the doors as they opened. She motioned for him to walk.

"Angry people tend to want to kill you...at least the people I know." He followed and watched the doors to the ward. "Have you...?"

Paine raised an eyebrow. "Have I what? Let anyone go?"

Xigbar nodded looking back to the woman. "Stupid as it may sound coming from my mouth but I don't approve of euthanasia."

Paine looked at him then pushed open the door to the labs. "No. No one's been... released yet."

"The people who've asked...are they mates...or family?" He looked inside and saw Vexen toiling away.

"A few mates but mostly family." she said quietly. "You know, I don't want to let a single one of them go. It's like admitting defeat."

"Exactly! And if it's just family, what about the mates? How do you think they are going to react to them being...let go?" Xigbar scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Well some don't have mates, as for the ones that do... unfortunately they'll have to take it up with the family." she said and pushed open the new metal door to the lab.

"The pain that a family member feels...is nothing compared to the pain the loss of a mate would bring." Xigbar said quietly.

"I know. But I didn't make the rules, and I sure as hell can't change them." she said bitterly.

Vexen walked over to Xigbar and grabbed his arm. "Is your blood clean yet?"

Xigbar blinked and nodded. "Yeah." Vexen nodded and pulled him to a chair.

Paine laughed and leaned against the wall. "You seem like you're excited."

After fixing Xigbar he jammed in a needle and started to take his blood. The ex-hunter let out a short 'ow' as Vexen turned to Paine. "With his blood I can finally get some work done-of course I'm excited about studying the blood!"

Paine chuckled and turned to leave. "Just don't kill him. I'll send the guards in." she said and left the room only to be replaced by two women and a man, who stood near the door silently.

Xigbar looked up at Vexen after watching his blood go into a bag and frowned. "A little warning woulda been nice..."

"You sound like Luxord. Babies. The both of you." he said and examined the bag.

"You have no clue how much anxiety I have being in this room with all this equipment...but Luxord has an issue with it too?" Xigbar narrowed his eyes.

Vexen nodded and looked over at Xigbar. "Yes. More specifically needles."

"That little..." Xigbar leaned back and closed his eyes. "So tell me...I'll be helping you with things and this is officially my new place to live, 'til Paine decides that I can play well with others...What do you need me to do?"

"Do you have any knowledge of science?" he asked and walked over to a computer.

"Uhh...Physics?" Xigbar was about to get up but remembered he was attached to something.

Vexen nodded. "That's something." he said and typed something into the computer. "Don't break anything."

"Vexen, I'm not a bull, and trust me I won't get near anything unless you explicitly ask me to." Xigbar looked to his hand holding tightly to the ball. "So...what are you working on?"

"I'm studying blood that is related to Demyx in any way." he said and leaned on the table.

"Yeah? Why's that?" Xigbar squeezed his hand again and raised his eyebrows.

Vexen frowned and looked at Xigbar. "I'm on my last legs. I'm willing to try anything." he said quietly. "But I have a good feeling about this idea."

Xigbar swallowed. "Well...I'm here to help in any way I can." He spoke quietly. "What's my blood got to do with Demyx's?"

"You're his fledgling. You have his blood in you." he said and sighed. "I know it's a long shot."

"No, no, don't get discouraged just because I'm askin' questions...but...I'm Luxord's fledgling." Xigbar said softly.

Vexen held up a finger. "No, you're not. True Luxord bit you, but Demyx was the one who drained you and you drank his blood. Not Luxords'." he said and walked over to him. "You can think of them as like parents. Demyx would be your mother and Luxord your father. Luxord started the process but Demyx is the one who actually made you a vampire."

"Don't ever say that again." He paused. "Well...how does Luxord have this weird...power over me?"

Vexen tilted his head to the side with knitted eyebrows. "Power?"

Xigbar looked back down. "I don't know it's like...I can't disobey him-at all."

"Hmm... perhaps the poison." he said and went to pull the needle from Xigbar's arm. "I'll run some tests see if I can figure anything out."

"Well don't worry about it...I'll be fine, I don't really care-it was just a thought." Xigbar rubbed at his arm. "So I'm staying where?"

"Oh!" Vexen nodded and walked over to a corner in the back and pulled back a curtain revealing a comfy looking bed with equally comfy looking pillows. "I managed to get you a better bed than what you had before."

"Oh...thanks Vexen...you didn't have to do that." Xigbar smiled. "Thank you for...allowing me to stay here in the lab. I know I'll probably be in the way mostly, but anything tiny I'll be there to do." He cracked a grin. "I can be your Igor to your mad scientist."

Vexen laughed and rested a hand on the wall to steady himself. "Can... Can you do the voice too?"

Xigbar shook his head then shrugged. "If the moment calls for it I guess I could."

Vexen smiled and looked at Xigbar. "Alright." he said and headed back to the tables. "Let's get to work then."

"Alright." Xigbar followed Vexen and watched him as he worked, occasionally doing the odd task and retrieving things. But he eventually got tired; Vexen got on to talking about dull subjects that were over Xigbar's head and he could feel himself falling asleep, so he excused himself, went to the bed and fell asleep.


End file.
